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OUT OF THE CLOUDS 
 
 INTO THE LIGHT. 
 
 SEVENTEEN DISCOURSES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LEADING DOCTRINES OF THE DAY, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 LIGHT OF BIBLE CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 
 4r & 
 
 REV. VM. METCALFE, M.D. N s&WtO^> / 
 
 TOGETHER WITH A. 
 
 MEMOIE OF T*HE AUTHOE, 
 
 BY HIS SON, 
 
 REV. JOSEPH METCALFE. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
 
 187 2. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 
 
 THE TRUSTEES OF THE BIBLE-CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
ex 
 
 I 
 
 "3 
 
 Kind Reader, — A work like the one before you needs 
 little preface. The memoir of its author, by his son, will 
 introduce you to the man. 
 
 In the sermons which follow, the man speaks for him- 
 self of the truths to which he dedicated his life. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction — Birth and Early Education of Win. Metcalfe 
 — Exemplary Youth — Literary Taste — Theological Studies 
 — Adoption of a Vegetarian Diet — Marriage ... 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 History of the Origin of the " Bible-Christian Church" — Mr. 
 Metcalfe studies under Dr. Cowherd — Death of Dr. Cow- 
 herd — Emigration to America of a Number of M Bible- 
 Christians" with the Rev. William Metcalfe — Defection 
 and Separation — Mr. Metcalfe opens an Academy — Organ- 
 ization of the " Bible-Christian Church" in Philadelphia . 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Allurements in Poverty — Mr. Metcalfe as a Preacher — The 
 Doctrines he presented — Opposition of the Clergy to his 
 Preaching — His Reply and Challenge — No Response— Re- 
 moval to Kensington ........ 21 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 The First Total- Abstinence Society and the First Tract on 
 Entire Abstinence from all Intoxicating Liquors — The 
 
 (v) 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Dietetic Keform — The Labors of Mr. Metcalfe in behalf 
 of Vegetarianism — Mr. Metcalfe engages in Printing and 
 Editing — Graduates as an M.D 31 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 Rebuilding and Dedication of the " Bible-Christian Church" 
 — Correspondence with James Simpson, Esq., and Drs. 
 Graham and Alcott — Formation of the American Vegeta- 
 rian Society — Mr. Metcalfe's Visit to England — Death of 
 Mrs. Metcalfe — The Organ of the Vegetarians — Mr. Met- 
 calfe's Duties and Labors — Invitation to Revisit England 
 as Pastor of the " Bible-Christian Church" — Marriage to 
 Miss Cariss — Departure for England 36 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mr. Metcalfe in England — The Death of Joseph Brotherton, 
 M.P. — Returns to his Church in Philadelphia — Death of 
 Dr. William A. Alcott— Election of Rev. Dr. Metcalfe to 
 the Presidency of the Vegetarian Society — Ordination of his 
 Successor in the Ministry — Celebration of the Semi-Centen- 
 nial Anniversary of his own Ordination — The Closing Days 
 of his Life — Death— Remarks on his Life — The Funeral 
 Sermon .......... 41 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Description of a Tablet to the Memory of the Rev. William 
 Metcalfe — Testimonials — Resolutions adopted by the " Bible- 
 Christian Church" of Philadelphia — Letter of Condolence 
 from Christ Church, Salford, England . . . .48 
 
 Tribute of Respect . . ... . . .49 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 DISCOURSES. 
 
 DISCOURSE 1. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 On the Being and Unity of God 53 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 On the Lord Jesus Christ .63 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 On the Trinity . 75 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 The Bible a Divine Revelation 89 
 
 « 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 On Creation 101 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 On the Original State of Man . v 112 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 On the Popular Doctrine of Original Sin .... 122 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 On the Garden of Eden and its Trees . . . . .133 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 On the Forbidden Fruit, and the Tempter . . . .141 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Bible Testimony on Abstinence from the Flesh of Animals as 
 Food . . . . . . . . . . .151 
 
 DISCOURSE XI. 
 On the Sacrifices of the Jews 184 
 
 DISCOURSE XII. 
 On the Ten Commandments 197 
 
 DISCOURSE XIII. 
 
 On the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Divine Nature 
 of his Resurrection-Body 206 
 
 DISCOURSE XIV. 
 
 On the Passion of the Cross, or Salvation by the Blood of 
 Christ 215 
 
 DISCOURSE XY. 
 On Faith . . . . 225 
 
 DISCOURSE XVI. 
 
 Sermon Delivered on the Fiftieth Anniversary of Ordination, 
 August 11th, 1861 236 
 
 DISCOURSE XVII. 
 
 The Jubilee — Being a Historical Sketch of the Bible-Chris- 
 tian Church— June 12th, 1859 247 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 KEV. WILLIAM METCALFE 
 
 CHAPTER I.. 
 
 Introduction — Birth and Early Education of Wm. Metcalfe — Exemplary 
 Youth — Literary Taste — Theological Studies — Adoption of a Vegetarian 
 Diet — Marriage. 
 
 A good man's life is a worthy subject 'of study. Besides 
 furnishing an illustration of the powers and graces of 
 honest virtue, it also assists to a knowledge of ourselves. 
 Genius or talent alone may secure great distinction, but 
 simple goodness will prove more powerful for human 
 happiness than both combined. The conviction of this 
 truth is growing upon the public mind; and it is hoped 
 that these pages will aid in giving it strength. 
 
 It is not claimed that the subject of this memoir was 
 endowed with extraordinary mental powers, or that he had 
 attained extensive notoriety in the world. The Rev. Wm. 
 Metcalfe was simply a Christian minister, unpretending 
 and unobtrusive in deportment. He was an honest, con- 
 scientious, Religious Reformer; and it is his life and 
 labors as such that this brief sketch is intended to exhibit. 
 As his son, I sincerely and gratefully honor his character : 
 
 2 (9) 
 
10 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 yet my purpose here is not to eulogize him, but only to 
 furnish, in unadorned simplicity, the narrative of a well- 
 spent life. 
 
 The Rev. William Metcalfe was the son of Jonathan 
 and Elizabeth Metcalfe. He was born at Sproadgill, in 
 the parish of Orton, Westmoreland, England, March 11th, 
 1788. His parents were in moderate circumstances, and 
 contrived to give him a good classical education at the 
 academy of Mr! Roberts, who was then celebrated as a 
 philologist and the author of an English dictionary. 
 
 At the age of nineteen, he left home, with the consent 
 of his parents, to see what he could do in the world. He 
 soon obtained employment, engaging himself as an ac- 
 countant in an establishment near Keighley, Yorkshire. 
 As he was entirely dependent upon his own exertions, and 
 as he found his situation agreeable, he at once considered 
 himself settled. , 
 
 His course of life at this period furnishes an admirable 
 example to youth generally, of the importance of starting 
 in the world with a proper moral ideal. Doubtless he had 
 all the ardent flow of animation which is common to youth ; 
 he was inexperienced in the temptations of town life ; he 
 was among strangers, and free from the restraints of im- 
 mediate parental oversight ; but Providence seems to have 
 early surrounded him with religiously-disposed associates, 
 and he at once accepted the Christian influences, and thus 
 secured himself in a great measure from the direct tempta- 
 tions of evil society. He was a constant attendant of the 
 church services on the Sabbath day, and at length attached 
 himself to the " New Church 7 ' of Keighley, then under 
 the pastorship of his subsequent father-in-law, the Rev. 
 Joseph Wright. 
 
 His leisure hours appear to have been occupied in lit- 
 erary pursuits ; and the Muses came in for a share of his 
 
REV. WILLIAM f METCALFE. 11 
 
 attentions. Born and educated- among the pastoral hills 
 of Westmoreland, his poetical efforts were distinguished 
 for their rural simplicity and amiability. In 1809 he paid, 
 as he supposed, his farewell visit to his boyhood's home. 
 The following lines, bearing date "Kendal, Sunday even- 
 ing, May 21st, 1809," are a transcript of his feelings and 
 his style at that time. They are headed 
 
 ON LEAVING MY NATIVE PLACE. 
 
 Farewell, good friends, companions, youthful mates ! 
 May comfort smile within your cheering gates ! 
 Farewell those hours that bless'd the youthful scene 
 When mutual kindness echoed through the green ; 
 When gambols, harmless as the tender dove, 
 Endear'd our hearts, and oped the mind to love: 
 My Brothers, Sisters, Parents, — all adieu ! 
 What thanks can pay the debts I owe to you? 
 
 Ye happy cots, where Peace untroubled lives, 
 
 Where Heaven-made bounty each one's want relieves; 
 
 Within whose doors all happiness I've known; 
 
 In each one welcome, frown'd upon by none : 
 
 Each guileless eye beam'd on my youthful face, 
 
 And kindly hail'd me with an artless grace: 
 
 Ah ! can I from such friends, such kindness, part 
 
 Without the tribute of a grateful heart ? 
 
 Peace, health, to all ! — and may your hearts receive 
 That joy and kindness they so gladly give : — 
 Whate'er my fortune in this world may be, 
 Whate'er kind Providence may do for me, 
 Whate'er my lot in life's uncertain scene, 
 Still I'll remember what with you I've been : 
 This look's my last, from off this well-known peak: 
 My feelings dictate, but I cannot speak. 
 
 His pastor, recognizing his talents, persuaded him to 
 apply himself to the study of Theology, with a view to the 
 ministry. He freely gave him his assistance, and sup- 
 
12 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 plied him with books. Next to the word of God itself, 
 Sweclenborg became his favorite author. Mr. Metcalfe 
 read all the works of the illuminated Scribe within his 
 reach, with avidity and care ; and acknowledged that they 
 supplied the most nourishing food to the understanding in 
 the whole field of theological literature. Whilst he was 
 ready to honor truth, come from what source it might, he 
 considered Swedenborg a powerful uprooter of doctrinal 
 errors and a good sower of Bible seeds. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Wright had carried on a correspond- 
 ence for some years with the Rev. William Cowherd, at 
 one time President of the '-New Church n Conference, and 
 an ordaining minister of that body. In some of his letters, 
 the Rev. Dr. Cowherd eloquently presented the doctrine of 
 entire abstinence from all animal food and from all intoxi- 
 cating drinks. He urged this abstinence as a healthful, 
 moral, and religious duty. Mr. Metcalfe was favored with 
 the perusal of those letters by his pastor, who had himself 
 already yielded to the humane and Scriptural testimony 
 adduced in regard to this discipline, although he did not 
 make it a test of church-membership. Mr. Metcalfe exam- 
 ined the whole subject with great care, reviewing all the 
 evidences, scientific and Scriptural, and finally determined 
 to test the system by a personal experiment. Accordingly, 
 on the 1st of September, 1809, he gave up, at once and 
 entirely, fish, flesh, and fowl as food, and every kind of 
 intoxicating liquors as drink ; and so favorably impressed 
 was he with his own experience that he never after even 
 tasted the one or the other. 
 
 Mr. William Metcalfe married Miss Susanna Wright, 
 daughter of the Rev. Joseph Wright, on the 14th of Jan- 
 uary, 1810. She was some years his senior in age, earnest 
 in the advocacy of the system of diet he had adopted, and 
 was possessed of a cultivated mind. 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 13 
 
 It is not to be supposed that Mr. Metcalfe adopted a 
 vegetarian life without meeting with the opposition of 
 those whom he respected and loved. In a letter describing 
 this period of his life, he gives the following historical tes- 
 timony : — 
 
 " My friends laughed at me, and entreated me to lay 
 aside my foolish notions of a vegetable diet. They assured 
 me I was rapidly sinking into a consumption, and tried 
 various other methods to induce me to return to the cus- 
 tomary dietetic habits of society ; bat their efforts proved 
 ineffectual. Some predicted my death in three or four 
 months ; and others, on hearing me attempt to defend my 
 course, hesitated not to tell me I was certainly suffering 
 from mental derangement, and, if I continued to live with- 
 out flesh-food much longer, would unquestionably have to 
 be shut up in some insane-asylum. All was unavailing. 
 Instead of sinking into consumption, I gained several 
 pounds in weight during the first few weeks of my experi- 
 ment. Instead of three or four months bringing me to the 
 silent grave, they brought me to the matrimonial altar. I 
 dared even to get married ; and I am thankful to ' Our 
 Father in heaven ' that my mental operations have, up to 
 this day, been such that I have never even seen the in- 
 terior of any insane-institution. 
 
 " In my wife I found an invaluable helpmeet, — a bless- 
 ing which all who enter the married state do not realize. 
 She fully coincided with me in my views on vegetable 
 diet, and, indeed, on all other important points, — was 
 always ready to defend them to the best of her ability, — 
 studied to show our acquaintances, whenever they paid us 
 a visit, that we could live in every rational enjoyment 
 without the use of flesh for food ; and, being an excellent 
 cook, we were never at a loss 'for what we should eat, 
 although we would not have meat.' We commenced 
 
 2* 
 
14 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 housekeeping in January, 1810 ; and from that date to the 
 present time we have never had a pound of flesh-meat in 
 our dwelling, have never patronized* either slaughter- 
 . houses or grog-shops. 
 
 "When, again, in the course of time, we were about to 
 be blessed with an addition to our family, a renewed effort 
 was made. We were assured it was impossible for my 
 wife to get through her confinement without some more 
 strengthening food. Friends and physician were alike 
 decided upon that point. We were, notwithstanding, un- 
 moved, and faithful to our vegetarian principles. Next, 
 we were told by our kind advisers that the little stranger 
 could not be sufficiently nourished unless the mother 
 would eat a little meat once a day, or, if not that, drink 
 from half a pint to a pint of ale daily. To both proposals 
 my wife turned a deaf ear; and, thanks to a Divine and 
 Merciful Providence, both she and the child did exceed- 
 ingly well." 
 
 It may be proper to add here that the "little stranger," 
 above referred to, is the author of this Memoir, that he is 
 in the fifty-sixth year of his age,- that he has never so 
 much as tasted animal food nor used intoxicating drinks 
 of any kind, and that he is hale and hearty. 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 History of the Origin of the "Bible-Christian Church "—Mr. Metcalfe 
 studies under Dr. Cowherd — Death of Dr. Cowherd — Emigration to 
 America of a Number of "Bible-Christians " with the Rev. William 
 Metcalfe — Defection and Separation — Mr. Metcalfe opens an Academy 
 — Organization of the "Bible-Christian Church" in Philadelphia. 
 
 As raj father's future life is much interwoven with the 
 succeeding history of the " Bible-Christian Church/' it 
 may be satisfactory to our readers to give here a brief 
 account of its origin. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Cowherd .was, unquestionably, the first, 
 most earnest, practical advocate, in the present century, 
 of those reforms now technically called Temperance, or 
 Tee-totalism, and Vegetarianism. As early as 1807 he 
 publicly taught them, as imperative duties, from his pul- 
 pit. He labored to induce the clergy — especially those of 
 the " Xew Church," or Swedenborgians — to acquaint 
 themselves with the principles and testimony upon which 
 they were advanced. But his zeal for these and some 
 strictly theological views caused him, and those who coin- 
 cided with him, to be treated with great coldness and in- 
 difference by the leading ministers of that Church. They 
 denounced him and his friends as being " restless and un- 
 controllable," as " advocates of fanatical opinions," and 
 as "not strictly adhering to the views of Swedenborg." 
 The hope of a more tolerant spirit prevailing in the "New 
 Church" counsels was feeble. Still, the Rev. Joseph 
 Wright made an effort, by calling a Conference of the 
 ministers and lay delegates of the "New Church," to be 
 
16 MEMOIR OF TUB 
 
 held at the Rev. Dr. Cowherd's church, Salford, Manches- 
 ter, June 29th, 1809. No other Conference of the " New- 
 Church" was held that year; although the Conference of 
 the year previous contemplated that one should be held 
 in Manchester. Invitations were sent, and the Conference 
 met. But the only ministers present were the Rev. Joseph 
 Wright, of Keighley, the Rev. George Senior, of Dalton, 
 near Huddersfield, the Rev. Samuel Dean, of Hulme, and 
 the Rev. William Cowherd, of Salford, — both the latter 
 churches representing Manchester. There were also a 
 number of lay delegates from different parts of the king- 
 dom. It was now evident that the u New Church " was 
 not disposed to meet the issues. The Conference, how- 
 ever, was duly organized, and remained in session four 
 days. Its deliberations were conducted throughout in an 
 orderly and devout manner. Every inquiry was consid- 
 ered with candor, earnestness, and moderation, under a 
 spirit of true Christian harmony and peace. It was 
 unanimously agreed that the Bible, as the divinely in- 
 spired record of the word of God, contains all the princi- 
 ples and doctrines necessary to man's salvation, — that 
 God was in Christ, and that beside Him there is no other 
 God. He is, therefore, the only proper object of worship. 
 Disclaiming any human being or creed as authority, and 
 cordially accepting the Bible as the divinely inspired 
 word, and Christ as their only God, the members of the 
 Conference desired to be known only as "Bible-Chris- 
 tians." Much interest prevailed throughout the session, 
 and there was not one discordant heart or dissentient 
 voice from first to last. Such, in brief, is the history 
 which ultimated in the organization of the visible " Bible- 
 Christian Church." 
 
 Dr. Cowherd had instituted an Academy of Sciences at 
 Salford, over which he presided, assisted by several other 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 17 
 
 reverend gentlemen in the various departments. To this 
 academy Mr. Metcalfe went as a student, designing to pre- 
 pare himself for the ministry. When he had been there 
 about a year, the Rev. Robert Hindmarsh withdrew from 
 the classical department of the academy, and Dr. Cowherd 
 immediately invited Mr. Metcalfe to assume the vacancy. 
 This was in the early part of 1811. He accepted the offer, 
 and continued in that position about two years. 
 
 In the mean time, my father's home was in Addingham, 
 Yorkshire. Here he had got together a small congrega- 
 tion as early as 1810, to whom he dispensed the doctrines 
 of Bible-Christianity on each successive Sabbath. At the 
 solicitation of this congregation, Mr. Metcalfe was pre- 
 sented, by its representative Mr. Jonathan Wright, as a 
 candidate for the ministry, to the Rev. Dr. Cowherd. He 
 was, accordingly, ordained by that reverend divine on 
 Sunday, August 11th, 1811, in Christ Church, Salford. 
 
 One of his church-members in Addingham erected a 
 handsome church-building, in which was also a commo- 
 dious school-room. This was placed at his service. He 
 therefore left his position under Dr. Cowherd, and opened 
 a grammar-school in the place prepared for him. Here he 
 was much appreciated, both as a minister and a teacher, 
 and the church and school were well sustained. 
 
 Whilst engaged at Salford, my father had formed a de- 
 sire to emigrate to America. Nor was he alone in this 
 desire. In one of his letters to a friend, written shortly 
 after his ordination, he says, "The civil and religious free- 
 dom of the people of the United States has been the topic 
 of many an hour's conversation among the teachers of the 
 Salford Academv and the members of the church." He 
 speaks also of Dr. Cowherd as an enthusiastic admirer of 
 the free institutions of America. It appears that the then 
 existing war between the two countries caused them to 
 
18 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 suppress their thoughts of removing : abandoned they 
 were not, for on the restoration of peace the desire again 
 became prominent. The arrangements for emigrating 
 were, however, once more temporarily suspended, by the 
 death of the Rev. Dr. Cowherd. This event took place 
 on the 29th of March, 1816, and quite a gloom was cast 
 upon all who had connected themselves with the " Bible- 
 Christian Church, " by that bereavement. 
 
 In the early part of the spring of 1817, a company of 
 forty-one persons, all members of the " Bible-Christian 
 Church," embarked from Liverpool for Philadelphia. 
 This little community comprised two ministers, — the 
 Rev. James Clark and the Rev. William Metcalfe, — with 
 twenty other adults and nineteen children. After a tedi- 
 ous voyage of eleven weeks, they all landed safely and in 
 good health at the port of their destination, on the 15th 
 of June. 
 
 The crowning objects of these emigrants, as they pro- 
 fessed, were the propagation of their peculiar religious 
 doctrines and the establishment of the " Bible-Christian 
 Church " in this highly favored land. But, alas ! how 
 frail and fickle are human purposes ! Of the twenty-two 
 adults and their families, eleven adults and seven children 
 only were faithful when they reached Philadelphia. The 
 strong salt breeze of the Atlantic, or some other cause, 
 'dissolved not only their purposes, but their practical pre- 
 cepts ; and at the first opportunity they gave way to indul- 
 gences in eating and drinking those things which their 
 principles had forbidden. Some of these might possibly 
 have been reclaimed, had they been able to locate near 
 their more faithful brethren. But all were poor, depend- 
 ing for their daily bread upon their daily labor, and to 
 obtain employment they were necessarily scattered far 
 apart. Thus isolated from one another, in a strange 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 19 
 
 country, and among a people who had no sympathy with 
 their habits, but who advised them that "it would be im- 
 possible to live in this hot climate without animal food," 
 it is scarcely surprising that they relaxed their interest. 
 Their heroism to principle failed them, and the " crown- 
 ing objects " of their emigration, with them, at least, were 
 abandoned. 
 
 This apostasy was a source of great sorrow and mortifi- 
 cation to the faithful. They too were widely separated. 
 The Rev. James Clark and family, with two other fami- 
 lies who were his personal friends as well as strict mem- 
 bers of the Church, determined to locate themselves as 
 farmers. Accordingly, they purchased some wild land in 
 Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, and removed thither. 
 They formed a church and Sabbath-school ; but, not 
 meeting with that encouragement from the surrounding 
 neighborhood which Mr. Clark thought them worthy of 
 receiving, he resolved to remove. Ardent in tempera- 
 ment, he could not brook coldness and indifference in 
 others. The following spring he went to Baltimore, 
 leaving those who had devotedly followed his lead into 
 the wilderness, still there. After much buffeting about, 
 he finally settled as a farmer in the State of Indiana. 
 Although he remained faithful to the principles of Bible- 
 Christianity, he made no special effort to organize a 
 church. The Rev. James Clark died, August 31, 1826, 
 in the forty-seventh year of his age. 
 
 The Rev. William Metcalfe remained in Philadelphia, 
 intending, by the blessing of Providence, to support him- 
 self and family by school-teaching. He bought out the 
 good-will and fixtures from a teacher, and rented his 
 dwelling and school-room, in the rear of No. 10 North 
 Front street. In this arrangement he purposed also to 
 fulfill his ministerial duties, by preaching on the Sabbath- 
 
20 MEMOIR OF THE - 
 
 day, like the apostle of old, "in his own hired house," to 
 as many as were willing to listen to his testimony. The 
 meetings of the " Bible-Christian Church" were held in 
 his own school-room ; and there were present at the first 
 administration of the Holy Supper five adults, including 
 the minister and his wife. 
 
 The day-school was opened under the most flattering 
 prospects, and my father's most sanguine expectations 
 were more than realized. His academy was patronized 
 by some of the wealthiest families of the city, and my 
 mother's services were called into requisition by a class of 
 young ladies. In purchasing the good-will and fixtures 
 of the academy, only a portion of the money was to be 
 paid at the time, — the balance having to be paid within 
 the year. The rental for his house and school-room was 
 considered, at that time, to be somewhat exorbitant; but 
 he was enabled to meet all his engagements, and he began 
 to think himself comfortably established. Just at this 
 time, however, the yellow fever broke out in the imme- 
 diate neighborhood of his residence, in the fall of 1818. 
 His school was deserted by his pupils, and he was com- 
 pelled to keep it closed, several weeks. Two or three of 
 his pupils died with the plague ; and, on re-opening, so 
 many of them had been placed in other schools, that for 
 several weeks after he numbered only nine scholars. This 
 visitation was not the end of his troubles.. The fever 
 again appeared in the summer and fall of 1819, and yet 
 again in 1820. My father was not prepared for these 
 heavy drawbacks. He was in actual poverty and want. 
 The proximity of his academy to this } r early contagious 
 visitant rendered it unsafe to send pupils to him for in- 
 struction, and he was entirely dependent upon his school 
 for a livelihood. 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 21 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 Allurements in Poverty — Mr. Metcalfe as a Preacher — The Doctrines he 
 presented — Opposition of the Clergy to his Preaching — His R,eply and 
 Challenge — No Response — Removal to Kensington. 
 
 Dark and lowering as were the affairs of Mr. Metcalfe 
 at this time, he had nevertheless secured the friendship 
 of many influential persons. But their solicitude for him 
 only increased his troubles, and he might have exclaimed 
 with propriety, even in his poverty, " Save me from my 
 friends I" Offers of an alluring character were made to 
 him ; but thev were so conditioned with obiectionable 
 features that they aggravated, rather than ameliorated, 
 his condition. It was urged upon him that if he would 
 cease to present temperance and abstinence from flesh- 
 food as religious duties, and renounce his scheme to build 
 up the "Bible-Christian Church, " he would be certain of 
 support. One offer was an academy, with a regular, com- 
 fortable salary, under the patronage of a religious denomi- 
 nation, located a few miles from the city; and another was 
 the pastorship of an. established congregation, insuring 
 him a respectable living, if he would conform to such 
 stipulations. These and other offers somewhat similar 
 were doubtless made from honest and benevolent motives. 
 They were all, however, respectfully declined. In truth, 
 they tended rather to increase his estimation of Bible- 
 Christianity, and to make him labor even more earnestly 
 in its vineyard. 
 
 Now, it is not surprising that Mr. Metcalfe was ap- 
 
 3 
 
22 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 proached in the manner just described. His talents would 
 have been an invaluable help to any ordinary religious 
 denomination, either as a preacher or teacher, if he could 
 have cramped himself to the creed. At this time he was 
 in the vigor of manhood, — just over thirty years of age, — 
 tall and commanding in person, mild and sociable in man- 
 ners. As a preacher, it is true, he was not what would 
 be called an orator; but his delivery was easy, plain, dis- 
 tinct, and impressive. His action was moderate and 
 graceful. He was never boisterous, never sensational, 
 and seldom allowed his imagination to. display.its powers 
 in the pulpit. His sermons were suggestive and instruct- 
 ive, always including some teaching on practical, every- 
 day duties. He sought all fields for the illustration of 
 Bible truths, especially availing himself of the lights of 
 modern science and of ancient history in the elucidation 
 of his subjects. Owing, perhaps, to the peculiarity of his 
 religious views and his earnest desire to leave a clear im- 
 pression on the minds of his hearers, his style of pulpit- 
 speaking was that of a teacher more than that of a 
 preacher. 
 
 In this description of Mr. Metcalfe's preaching, I have 
 limited myself to a simple statement of his personal ap- 
 pearance and general style. However unadapted he 
 might be for a reformer, he would most certainly have 
 become a popular pastor, had he gone with a popular cur- 
 rent. This he would not do, though tempted at a time 
 when want and suffering were inmates of his dwelling 
 and contagious disease surrounded his household. 
 
 Under these peculiarly trying circumstances, Mr. Met- 
 calfe industriously engaged himself in sowing the seeds 
 of those moral and religious reforms the cultivation of 
 which constituted the great work of his life. He adver- 
 tised the Sabbath-day services held in his school-room in 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 23 
 
 the newspapers and by cards. Respectable audiences 
 were collected until the plague, — when, like his school, 
 the church also became almost a vacant place. But even 
 then he continued to preach, and added to his labors by 
 availing himself of every social means, and also the news- 
 paper-press, and tracts, to diffuse a knowledge of the doc- 
 trines of Bible-Christianity. 
 
 It is well known that the churches of that day were 
 exceedingly tenacious of their traditional doctrines ; and 
 preachers were expected to discourse with fervid zeal 
 upon the necessity, of accepting their respective greeds in 
 their most exact literal expressions. No latitude was 
 allowed to rationalize any doctrine ; and the non-accept- 
 ance of them in the strict meaning of their words was 
 deemed to be rank infidelity. How far Mr. Metcalfe ran 
 counter to these views may be better understood from the 
 following abstract of his teachings, as enunciated by him 
 at that time in a series of discourses. Of course, this 
 statement must necessarily be very brief, and, consequently, 
 very imperfect. 
 
 1. The Bible, being written by divine inspiration, open 
 vision, and audible dictation, contains a record of all truths 
 necessary to man's salvation. To interpret it aright in 
 its literal sense, a knowledge of the literature, customs, 
 geography, arts, and philosophy of the Bible nations and 
 times is of great value. Beyond its literal sense, there is 
 providentially contained within it a revelation of divine 
 and spiritual- truths. These have existed within it from 
 the time it was first written, and have been successively 
 developed under God, precisely when needed to re-estab- 
 lish or re-edify the Church, — -just as the discoveries of 
 new principles or powers in creation (which have always 
 existed therein) were timed to the demands of the age in 
 which they were made available. Thus, the writings and 
 
24 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 labors of St. Augustine, Fenelon, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, 
 Swedenborg, Priestley, and others have been and are helps 
 to devout religious minds, according to their various mental 
 conditions. But, with all the aid of these saints, seers, 
 and philosophers, it is not to be presumed that all of 
 God's wisdom has yet been developed from the sacred 
 pages of Revelation. According to the earnestness and 
 need for further light/it will be manifested in greater and 
 brighter glory forever. The Bible, therefore, is the only 
 creed that a Scripture-founded Church ought to recognize 
 or espouse. * 
 
 2. This Church, having no creed but the Bible, does 
 not constitute a sect or denomination, but simply a "Bible- 
 Christian Church;" and its members claim to be in 
 perfect union and connection with the sincere and con- 
 scientious members of all the various denominations of 
 professing Christians. This Church holds all the funda- 
 mental doctrines, though not all the doctrinal opinions or 
 views, of the different sects, so far as they are founded on 
 the obvious truths of the Bible. Thus, the antagonistic 
 doctrines of the unity and the trinity of God, the man- 
 hood and the divinity of Christ, the predestination and 
 freedom of man, the doctrine of faith and also that of 
 works, with other doctrines, are presented in a light re- 
 concilable to reason and harmonious to each other. 
 
 3. God is One in essence and in person. "Whilst the 
 Bible nowhere says that there are three Persons in the 
 Godhead, it manifestly teaches that there is a threefold 
 combination in Deity, corresponding to that which dis- 
 tinguishes man, — namely, soul, body, and operative power. 
 In the Bible there is a threefold combination evidently 
 attributed to God, under the names of Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost. The Father is the Inmost or Essential 
 Divine Spirit, which is infinite love; the Son is the Great 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 25 
 
 Wisdom, or Word of God, effluxed by, and everywhere 
 combining with, the Father; and the Holy Spirit is the 
 Divine Proceeding or Emanating Energy and Power of 
 God. 
 
 4. " God was in Christ.' 7 The Lord "gave not his 
 Spirit by measure to Jesus Christ," — " the Word made 
 flesh/' — but dwelt in Him, in heaven, and in the universe 
 at one and the same time, — One Undivided God. He 
 assumed the spirit of man, which through sin had become 
 partially separated from its appropriate degree of connec- 
 tion with the Divine Spirit, so that he might meet the 
 Powers of Darkness on their own plain, combat with 
 them, and, by overcoming, redeem mankind to spiritual 
 
 'freedom, and thereby enable the race to become reunited 
 with the Great Omnipotent of heaven and earth. . 
 
 5. Providence is the government of divine love and 
 wisdom, and has for its end the salvation of man, and the 
 formation of a heaven out of the human family. It is 
 universal and particular ; and its laws are those of Ap- 
 pointment and Permission. 
 
 6. Man is endowed with Freedom of Will to choose 
 good or evil. By virtue of this free will in spiritual 
 things, he can be conjoined to the Lord, and the Lord to 
 him. Thus, he has the capacity of being reformed, re- 
 generated, and finally saved. 
 
 7. At death, man puts off the material body, which, 
 being no longer needful, is never again reassumed. " Flesh 
 and blood cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." Man's 
 spirit can never die : after death he rises in a spiritual 
 body into the spiritual world, in which he continues to 
 live forever, — in heaven, if he has lived a sincerely re- 
 ligious and good life on earth ; or in hell, if his ruling 
 thoughts, affections, and life have been evil. " Like asso- 
 ciates w r ith like," of its own free will. 
 
 3* 
 
26 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 8. The Second Advent, or coming of the Lord, is a 
 coming, not in Person in the clouds of our atmosphere, 
 but in the power and spirit of the Lord's own Divine 
 Truth. It is now, and ever has been, coming to every 
 willing mind that attains to the knowledge of Heavenly 
 Truth. The world will never be destroyed. " One gen- 
 eration passeth away, and another cometh ; but the earth 
 abideth forever." 
 
 9. Christian Discipline consists in obedience to the 
 appointed or eternal laws of the Lord, as revealed in his 
 Word and Works. These, unquestionably, enjoin worship 
 and love to the Lord supremely ; honesty, truthfulness, 
 and affection towards all men ; and purity of heart, under- 
 standing, and life in the individual. Besides the ordinarv 
 virtues of Christian professors, the appointed laws revealed 
 in the Divine Word also require abstinence from the flesh 
 of animals as food, from all intoxicating liquors as beverages, 
 and from war, capital punishment, and slavery. 
 
 10. The Religious Ceremonies of the " Bible-Christian 
 Church" are two, — viz.: Baptism, by which persons are 
 admitted to church-membership; and the Holy Supper, 
 which, in the elements of bread and wine, symbolizes the 
 preparation made by the Lord for the strengthening and 
 refreshment of the souls of his people by his divine truth 
 and love. Both these sacraments are open and free to 
 all who desire to partake. The wine used in the Holy 
 Supper is unfermented, and, consequently, unintoxicating. 
 The observance of the Sabbath as a day of worship and 
 religious instruction is enjoined, as is also family and 
 private prayer. 
 
 Such, in brief, were the doctrinal views and church- 
 organization presented to the public of Philadelphia, 
 nearly fifty years ago, by the Rev. William Metcalfe. 
 Considering the rigid religious dogmas which prevailed 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 27 
 
 at that time, it is not surprising that he met with a storm 
 of opposition. A religious monthly, published by an 
 Orthodox body in this city and edited by twelve of the 
 leading clergymen of the country, considered it necessary, 
 as they said, " to unmask" such an attempt to rationalize 
 religious doctrines. In a leading article, after speaking 
 of " wolves in sheep's clothing," the magazine says, — 
 
 "These remarks are occasioned by the preaching of a man who pro- 
 fessed to be a ' Bible-Christian/ and who under this disguise attacked the 
 most plain and important doctrines of our holy religion." 
 
 The article is too lengthy to republish here ; but it 
 accuses the Bible-Christians with claiming their name 
 from self-righteous motives: it attempts to prove the 
 necessity for human creeds, and proclaims the doctrines 
 of its Church, such as the tri-personality of God, the 
 sacrifice of the Son for the atonement of the Father, 
 faith in the imputation of Christ's righteousness, etc., as 
 Scripture doctrines ; and concludes with the following 
 nourish : 
 
 "The design of these pretended reformers, notwithstanding their pro- 
 fessions, is to impose their own creed upon mankind, and take away from 
 ws the doctrines for which martyrs bled, — doctrines which possess exclu- 
 sively the features of divine revelation, — doctrines which, while they 
 present the divine government in awful purity and majesty, and stamp 
 iniquity with deeper odium than the increasing weight of eternal per- 
 dition ever could, exhibit at the same time, in the sacrifice of Him who is 
 over all, God blessed forever, an atonement whose solidity, riches, and ex- 
 cellence can be measured only by the unchangeable existence, unlimited 
 fullness and dignity, of Him who dwells in light inaccessible and full of 
 glory." 
 
 To this article Mr. Metcalfe replied at length, in the 
 "Freeman's Journal." After noticing the principal topics 
 of a religious character, and answering them, he concludes 
 
28 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 by adverting to the uncharitable spirit betrayed in the 
 article, saying, — 
 
 **They ought to know that religious reformers in all ages of the world 
 have been accused as men who 'turned the world upside-down/ as ene- 
 mies to the 'traditions of the fathers/ and as authors of 'innovation.' 
 Let them reflect that while they indulge themselves in calumniating th^ 
 characters of men of whom they have no knowledge, and in declaiming 
 against doctrines of the nature of which they are utterly ignorant, they 
 are, in fact, betraying the weakness of their cause, and displaying to 
 every one their want of Bible-Christian principles, which would induce 
 them ' to do to others as they would have others do to them/ If they 
 really wish information relative to the views and characters of Bible- 
 Christians, let them attend their meetings, which are open to all; and we 
 promise them a friendly welcome. If they are still dissatisfied, we invite 
 them to a free and candid discussion. Truth cannot suffer by the closest 
 investigation ; nor is its progress to be arrested either by the fulmina- 
 tions of a body of priests or the pointless censures of an association of 
 reverend reviewers." 
 
 The challenge thus publicly given was never accepted, 
 —the " Magazine" not even deigning to notice the r"eply 
 or the Church. This was one mode of attack, varied by 
 shorter articles in the daily newspapers. Other modes 
 were resorted to, affecting him in his profession as a 
 teacher, which were even less creditable to their authors. 
 Even the unsubstantiated cry of " Skeptic I" and " Infidel!'? 
 caused some to withdraw their patronage. A public 
 charge always called forth a prompt rejoinder from Mr. 
 Metcalfe ; the latter modes were too far beneath the con- 
 sideration of sensible men for him to deem worthy of 
 notice. 
 
 Besides the labors of school-teaching, Mr. Metcalfe was 
 employed, as editor of a monthly periodical, entitled "The 
 Rural Magazine and Literary Evening Fireside" de- 
 voted, as its title indicates, to agriculture and general lit- 
 erature. It was published by his landlords, Messrs. R. & 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 29 
 
 C. Johnson, No. 31 Market Street, but was discontinued 
 at the close of 1820. 
 
 On account of the repeated visits of the yellow fever to 
 the neighborhood of our residence, my father removed, in 
 the spring of 1821, to the northern suburb of the city, then 
 called West Kensington. He continued his school for a 
 time, however, in the central part of the city, — No. T Pear 
 Street. In the mean time, my mother opened a school at 
 our residence, which was numerously patronized, so that 
 my father's aid was absolutely needed. Accordingly, he 
 closed his school in the city, and took a building which 
 had been erected purposely for a school-house in the neigh- 
 borhood, and there opened his academy. From this time 
 he was quite prospered in his avocation as a teacher. 
 
 The Church now began to assume some proportions of 
 size and strength. There had been an increase in its mem- 
 bership, by the return of the two families that had gone 
 out with the Rev. Mr. Clark, by emigrants from England, 
 and by new converts. But great inconvenience was ex- 
 perienced from the want of a permanent place of meeting. 
 After the school-room in Pear Street was given up by my 
 father, the Church was unlocalized, — sometimes meeting 
 at a public hall, sometimes in an engine-house, sometimes 
 in a school-room, and these widely distant from one 
 another. The only remedy for this unstable condition 
 was in the Church being itself the owner of a place of 
 meeting. This it resolved to do, poor as were its mem- 
 bers ; and on May 21st, 1823, the lot of ground was pur- 
 chased on ground-rent which is now held in fee-simple by 
 the Church, situated in North Third Street above Girard 
 Avenue. A frame building, which had been used as a 
 Lancasterian school, in Coates Street, was purchased and 
 removed to the lot. It was rejuvenated with paint and 
 other alterations, and fitted up in a plain and suitable 
 
30 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 style for the church-services. It was publicly opened and 
 dedicated, by the Rev. William Metcalfe, to the worship 
 of the Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour of men, on Sunday, 
 December 21st of the same year. 
 
 Connected with the Church in its migratory experiences 
 was a Sunday-school, conducted and supported by the 
 church-members. This also, with the Church, had at 
 length found a resting-place and a home, although it was 
 but an humble frame. The building, however, was in- 
 dicative of the character of the congregation who gathered 
 under its shelter, — plain, honest, and unostentatious. To 
 secure even such a religious home within little more than 
 six months from the time of the inception of the idea, de- 
 manded from each individual member great personal de- 
 votion, and evinces the fact that, though poor in worldly 
 wealth, they were rich in heavenly zeal. Their pastor, 
 like themselves, labored hard during the whole week, not 
 alone for the support of his family, but also to collect a 
 congregation and to be prepared to give instruction on the 
 Sabbath-day in the truths of Bible-Christianity. And 
 these truths, practically presented, necessarily came into 
 deadly hostility to the popular sentiments and the per- 
 verted appetites of the community around him : yet they 
 were nevertheless religiously reverential and pure in doc- 
 trine and in life. Shortly after the church had been opened, 
 an organ was purchased ; and the younger members com- 
 posing the choir were so earnest in their duties that the 
 Church became somewhat noted for its superior musical 
 talent. 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. • 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The First Total-Abstinence Society and the First Tract on Entire Absti- 
 nence from all Intoxicating Liquors — The Dietetic Reform — The Labors 
 of Mr. Metcalfe in behalf of Vegetarianism — Mr. Metcalfe engages in 
 Printing and Editing — Graduates as an M.D. 
 
 During the years 1820 and 1821, a series of tracts, en- 
 titled " Letters on Religious Subjects," was republished 
 under the supervision of Mr. Metcalfe. They were ex- 
 planatory of the leading doctrines of the ''Bible-Christian 
 Church," and were mostly written by the Rev. Dr. Cow- 
 herd. They were somewhat altered, so as to adapt them 
 to the wants of the people of this country. 
 
 It has already been stated that the " Bible-Christian 
 Church," as early as 1809, taught and enforced the prin- 
 ciple that abstinence from all intoxicating beverages is a 
 necessary duty. So strictly was this principle carried out, 
 that the wine used for sacramental purposes was expressly 
 made in such a manner as to remain unfermented and, 
 consequently, unintoxicating. Strictly speaking, there- 
 fore, it was the first temperance society, based upon the 
 total-abstinence principle, in modern times. Among the 
 tracts published by Mr. Metcalfe at this period was one in 
 regard to " The Duty of Abstinence from all Intoxicating 
 Drinks." The vice of drinking intoxicating liquors in 
 those days was one of the most common customs of society. 
 In the transaction of business, in social gatherings of old 
 or young, male or female, or miscellaneously mixed, — 
 whether met for moral purposes or for mere pleasure, — to 
 partake of this liquid poison was considered absolutely 
 essential. Even the clergy were as much addicted to this 
 
32 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 habit as any other class or profession. The little band of 
 Bible-Christians set their faces sternly against this com- 
 mon custom, and zealously sowed the seeds of those tem- 
 perance organizations which began to appear some ten or 
 twelve years afterwards. The tract alluded to says, — 
 
 " If this vice of intemperance is to be patronized, it is quite in vain to 
 erect places of worship, or to expect any thing but disappointment in 
 attempting to diffuse religious knowledge. There remains only one 
 effectual Way of counteracting this evil, and that is, for all ministers of the 
 gospel and all sineere reformers to strike at the root of the gigantic tree 
 of intemperance, — not alone by preaching, but by setting an example of 
 entire abstinence from this baneful liquor. In order to adopt any system, 
 it is desirable to see the practicability of it. In this case it is quite easy. 
 There only wants a beginning in the performance. The accursed bev- 
 erages ought never to gain admittance to our dwellings, and, if possible, 
 we should not even hear or see their names." 
 
 This was the language, word for word ; and the tract 
 sustained its position with sound reason and considerable 
 learning. A large edition was printed and gratuitously 
 distributed. It was, we believe, the First Total-Absti- 
 nence Tract published in this country. When the principles 
 of temperance became more operative in the community, 
 Mr. Metcalfe freely contributed his aid and influence in 
 the organization of societies and in the support of lec- 
 turers. 
 
 But he was early convinced that the Dietetic Reform 
 would be of a much slower growth than that of temperance. 
 The evil of drunkenness so openly manifests itself in the 
 fearful blight which falls upon its victims, that but little 
 effort was needed, he supposed, to call forth those who 
 would see and proclaim its wickedness. But eating the 
 flesh of animals — though really as criminal, as debasing, 
 and as barbarous as that or any other known evil — does 
 not manifest itself in the same heinousness outwardly : 
 therefore its opponents, he was assured, would not be so 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 33 
 
 numerous nor so popular. He was satisfied, however, 
 that there is a desolation wrought in the soul by the sin 
 of flesh-eating more fearful than any outward ghastliness, 
 but which cannot be understood, because of the long and 
 unlimited prevalence of the custom. Hence a constant and 
 self-sacrificing devotion was needful on the part of those 
 who were enlightened in the principles of Vegetarianism, 
 to awaken the public mind to its enormity. Mr. Metcalfe 
 gave his time, talent, and means, unstintedly, to present 
 to the world this cause simply as a moral reform. In 
 1821, he published a tract on the subject of " Abstinence 
 from the Flesh of Animals," which was freely and exten- 
 sively distributed. He resorted to the columns of the 
 newspapers to excite public attention to the subject. Arti- 
 cles were published in the " Saturday Evening Post," 
 " The Philadelphia Gazette," "The American Sentinel," 
 "The United States Gazette," and other papers, from his 
 pen, at various intervals, to excite public attention to the 
 consideration of this humane reform. He also instituted 
 correspondence with any inquiring mind, upon the least 
 appearance of interest in the principles which he had so 
 deeply at heart. 
 
 During the first ten or twelve years, his labors in this 
 direction appear to have been entirely unproductive of any 
 promising results. In 1830, Dr. Sylvester Graham was 
 employed as a temperance-lecturer, and was introduced to 
 some of the members of the " Bible-Christian Church." 
 He was at this time earnestly studying human physiology, 
 as furnishing testimony upon the subject which was the 
 theme of his public lectures. He had arrived at some con- 
 clusions in regard to the dietetic character of man, by this 
 study. The mode of life adopted by his Bible-Christian 
 friends was made known to him ; and this most probably 
 caused him to make a more searching investigation as to 
 
 4 
 
34 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the scientific grounds for such a course, and finally led him 
 to adopt its teachings and to become its champion. As 
 soon as my father became aware of his position, he ad- 
 dressed a letter of encouragement to him, and also one to 
 Dr. William A. Alcott, who had likewise publicly declared 
 his conviction that a vegetarian diet was the most proper 
 for mankind. This correspondence with them was con- 
 tinued through life, with much interest to all. The basis 
 of the dietetic reform was freely discussed, and projects 
 suggested for the propagation of its principles. In 1835, 
 Dr. Alcott commenced the " Moral Reformer," a monthly 
 periodical, which was afterwards 'substituted by the 
 "Library of Health. 11 In 1838-39, the "Graham Jour- 
 nal" was also published, in Boston, and physiological 
 societies w r ere organized in several of the New England 
 towns and in Philadelphia, principally among the Bible- 
 Christians. The inquiry began to be agitated as to w The 
 Bible Testimony on Abstinence, from the Flesh of Ani- 
 mals ;" and a sermon with this title was preached and 
 published by the Rev. William Metcalfe. It had an ex- 
 tensive circulation throughout the United States, and was 
 generously reviewed, pro and con, by the newspaper press 
 generally. 
 
 It would be almost impossible to enumerate all the 
 varied projects in which Mr. Metcalfe engaged to promote 
 the cause of Vegetarianism. Suffice it to say that, next 
 to the Church, it had his most anxious thoughts and his 
 most constant labor. 
 
 But he was overtasking his strength by his close and 
 constant application. School-teaching itself, at the time 
 he was engaged in it, was a health-destroying profession. 
 Then, the school-rooms -were generally low, ill-ventilated 
 apartments ; and his was greatly crowded. During fully 
 one-half the year he was employed with a day and an 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 35 
 
 evening school, from eight o'clock in the morning until 
 ten at night ; Saturday was devoted mainly to preparation 
 for his Sunday duties 1 so that he had no time for relaxa- 
 tion or bodily exercise. It is not surprising that he found 
 his health failing, from his close confinement and labor in 
 a vitiated atmosphere. 
 
 After following the avocation of a school-teacher for 
 more than twenty years, as a change, he engaged, in 1832, 
 with the writer of this in the letter-press printing. We 
 published a weekly newspaper, entitled " The Independent 
 Democrat, 11 — my father being editor and pressman, It 
 was political in its character, but a large portion of its 
 space was devoted to moral and literary articles. In 
 1838, a daily newspaper was printed at our office, called 
 " The Morning Star. 11 The principal object of the pro- 
 jectors of this paper was to secure the nomination and 
 election of General Harrison to the Presidency of the 
 United States ; and we were assured by many of the 
 leading advocates throughout the country that the under- 
 taking would be amply sustained. The patronage it had 
 was not sufficient, and the promises of the politicians were 
 not fulfilled. It finally ceased in 1841, and we were in- 
 volved in great pecuniary embarrassment. Although 
 General Harrison was no party to the promises which 
 had led us to undertake the publication, yet, being per- 
 sonally acquainted with my father, he volunteered, after 
 his election, to assure him that we should be repaid. His 
 death, a month after his inauguration, put an end to this 
 prospect. Excepting the subordinate position of measurer 
 in the custom-house, — which my father held about two 
 years, — and a position in the post-office by the writer, no 
 recompense was ever made. 
 
 My father, meanwhile, carried on the printing-business 
 himself, issuing from his office u The Temperance Advo- 
 
26 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 cate." This was also an unprofitable undertaking; and 
 he resolved to direct his attention to another channel for 
 support. 
 
 He had always entertained the idea that the union of 
 the medical and ministerial duties was eminently proper 
 and desirable. With this view, he attended a course of 
 lectures in the college, as early as 1820-21, but was com- 
 pelled to abandon his intention for want of means. In 
 1845, with the advice and assistance of his son-in-law, 
 Dr. Henry Taylor, he recommenced the study of medi- 
 cine, under the homoeopathic system. After private study, 
 he entered the college, and graduated as an M.D. in 1852. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Rebuilding and Dedication of the "Bible-Christian Church" — Corre- 
 spondence with James Simpson, Esq., and Drs. Graham and Alcott — 
 Formation of the American Vegetarian Society — Mr. Metcalfe's Visit to 
 England — Death of Mrs. Metcalfe — The Organ of the Vegetarians — 
 Mr. Metcalfe's Duties and Labors — Invitation to Revisit England as 
 Pastor of the "Bible-Christian Church" — Marriage to Miss Cariss- 
 Departure for England. 
 
 '& 
 
 In 1844, the frame building in which the Bible- Chris- 
 tians held their meetings began to bear evident marks of 
 decay. Its repair was almost out of the question. The 
 trustees, therefore, commenced taking the necessary meas- 
 ures for the erection of a more substantial edifice. The 
 incumbrance on the ground had been extinguished ; and a 
 fund was accumulating in anticipation of requiring a new 
 edifice. To aid this fund, the ladies of the church held a 
 fair, which realized a handsome sum. A subscription was 
 opened, and the members and friends of the church were 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. si 
 
 liberal in their contributions : so that the trustees felt 
 warranted in commencing the building. On the 4th of 
 June, 1845, the work was begun: the building was roofed 
 over, and the basement story finished, and formally opened 
 and set apart for church services, by the Rev. William 
 Metcalfe, on Sunday, November 2d, of the same year. 
 Nearly two years after, the whole building was completed 
 and furnished. The church proper, occupying the second 
 story, was dedicated, October 10th, 1847, to the Only 
 Wise God, our Saviour. The discourse by the pastor, the 
 Rev. William Metcalfe, was founded upon the twentieth 
 chapter of Exodus, and the ceremonies were interspersed 
 with appropriate music. 
 
 About this time Mr. Metcalfe received from James 
 Simpson, Esq., a member of the " Bible-Christian Church" 
 of Salford, Manchester, England, several copies of pam- 
 phlets on the subject of Vegetarianism. He also received 
 from the same gentleman an encouraging letter as to the 
 progress of the cause in that kingdom, stating that its ad- 
 vocates designed forming associations for the propagation 
 of vegetarian principles as a moral reform. This was 
 subsequently accomplished, and James Simpson, Esq., 
 was elected president of the Vegetarian Society of Great 
 Britain. Mr. Metcalfe immediately proposed the forma- 
 tion of a similar society here. He corresponded with Drs, 
 Graham, Alcott, Mussey, and others, and finally an Amerir 
 can Vegetarian Convention assembled in Clinton Hall, 
 New York, May 15th, 1850. This meeting brought to^ 
 gether friends of the cause who were personally strangers, 
 but who had, nevertheless, long known each other by cor^ 
 respondence or repute. The Rev. William* Metcalfe 
 was elected President of the Convention. Addresses 
 were made by Mr. Metcalfe, Drs. Graham, Alcott, and 
 
 others. The formation of the Vegetarian Society was 
 
 4* 
 
38 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 agreed to ; a constitution and by-laws were presented, 
 and also the form of a declaration of abstinence from 
 animal food, — all of which were adopted. The Society 
 was organized by electing Dr. Wm. A. Alcott, President, 
 Rev. William Metcalfe, Corresponding Secretary, and 
 Dr. R. T. Trall, Recording Secretary. The project of 
 publishing a Vegetarian magazine was canvassed ; and it 
 was determined to commence such a journal, as the organ 
 of the Society. Mr. Metcalfe was named as the editor, to 
 be assisted by Dr. Wm. A. Alcott and others. The first 
 number was issued in November, 1850, under the title of 
 the "American Vegetarian and Health Journal;" but 
 its regular monthly publication did not commence until 
 1851. 
 
 Having fully organized the Vegetarian reform, and 
 arranged for the organ of the cause, Mr. Metcalfe de- 
 termined to pay a visit to England. This resolution 
 becoming known, he was officially appointed as a delegate 
 from the "American Vegetarian Society" to the annual 
 meeting of the "Vegetarian Society of Great Britain;'''' 
 also as a delegate from the " Pennsylvania Peace Society" 
 to the World's Peace Convention, and as delegate from 
 the " Pennsylvania Temperance Society" to the Grand 
 Temperance Demonstration to be made in London in the 
 latter part of the month. He sailed from the port of New 
 York, on Saturday, July 5th, 1851, in the steamer Arctic, 
 and arrived in due time to take part in these several 
 gatherings. He also visited the Crystal Palace, w r hich 
 had just been opened. But the most pleasing feature of 
 his visit was his reception from the members of Christ 
 Church, Salford, where forty years before he had received 
 holy orders. They gave him a most cordial welcome; 
 and he had the gratification of preaching twice, during his 
 brief stay, in the building where he had received ordina- 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 39 
 
 tion. On Sunday evening", August 10th, a "tea-party," 
 comprising the whole congregation, convened in the 
 school-room connected with the church. It had been 
 arranged by the ladies as a means of testifying the 
 respect which the members of the church entertained for 
 the Rev. Dr. Metcalfe. The tables were spread with 
 chaste elegance, and simplicity withal. Joseph Brother- 
 ton, Esq., member of Parliament, presided on the occa- 
 sion. In the course of his opening address, alluding to 
 Mr. Metcalfe, he said, "I can assure you, I feel difficulty 
 in expressing my feelings towards him. I hail him as a 
 brother, and as a much-esteemed friend for his work's 
 sake." Another asked, " What was it that rendered Mr. 
 Metcalfe's visit a subject of such endearing interest to the 
 friends in England ? It was not wealth ; it was not 
 literary talent or eloquence merely ; but it was the con- 
 viction that Mr. Metcalfe was a living exemplar of certain 
 great and good principles, and the earnest promoter of the 
 practices which those principles inculcated" The parting 
 11 Farewell" was finally said ; and Mr. Metcalfe returned 
 in time to participate in the' proceedings of the second 
 annual meeting of the "American Vegetarian Society," 
 which convened in the Chinese Lecture-Room, Philadel- 
 phia, on the 10th of September. 
 
 In 1853, Mr. Metcalfe was called upon to suffer a severe 
 affliction, in the death of his wife. Mrs. Susan Metcalfe 
 died on the 3d of November, in the seventy-fourth year of 
 her age. For nearly forty-four years she had faithfully 
 encouraged and sustained her consort, as a minister of 
 Christianity, in his arduous undertaking of teaching duties 
 and doctrines of a higher character than the world was 
 willing to receive. Her hospitality was proverbial. Social 
 and frank in disposition, she was ever ready to cheer the 
 right, and to reprove in kindness those who were disposed 
 
40 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 to go astray. Her removal was mourned by the whole 
 Church as that of a beloved mother. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr. Metcalfe was not only the editor of the 
 u American Vegetarian," but all the duties connected with 
 its publication were performed by him gratuitously. He 
 was proof-reader, book-keeper, folder, and mail-packer, — 
 besides being personally responsible to the printer for his 
 work. He had advanced money from his own resources, 
 and at considerable embarrassment, in order to have the 
 regular appearance of the " Vegetarian" secured. His 
 statement was laid before the annual meeting of the Vege- 
 tarian Society in 1854, and the whole subject was referred 
 to a special committee, with full power to use their own 
 judgment in regard to its continuance. After canvassing 
 the matter, the committee deemed it advisable to suspend 
 its publication for a season, — hoping, if no other arrange- 
 ment could be made, to be able to secure for the Society a 
 hearing before the public through some other journal. Mr. 
 Metcalfe being shortly after called upon to labor in another 
 direction, no attempt was made by the others of the com- 
 mittee to resume its publication; and the volume of 1854 
 closed the "American Vegetarian." 
 
 The " other direction" in which Mr. Metcalfe was called 
 
 m 
 
 was England. The Rev. J. B. Strettles, officiating 
 minister of Christ Church, Salford, Manchester, died in 
 the early part of 1855. Mr. Metcalfe received an invita- 
 tion to visit that church, if only for a short period, until a 
 suitable person could be obtained to occupy the pulpit 
 made vacant by the death of its late occupant. This in- 
 vitation Mr. Metcalfe presented to a meeting of the mem- 
 bers of his church, and solicited leave of absence to fulfill 
 the request of the bereaved church. The Rev. Joseph 
 Wright, his brother-in-law, who had been ordained by the 
 Rev. Dr. Cowherd, was a resident of Philadelphia and an 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 41 
 
 active member of the church ; to him he purposed to con- 
 fide its pastoral duties, if the church should grant his re- 
 quest. The proposition, being urged with such an evident 
 desire to aid the sister church, was granted, the Rev.* 
 Joseph Wright consenting to take upon himself the duties 
 of the ministry. Mr. Metcalfe had recently been married 
 to Miss Mary Cariss, .a lady who had been nurtured and 
 raised in the principles and discipline of the " Bible-Chris- 
 tian Church, " and who was a faithful member. In the 
 latter part of July he and his wife embarked for Liverpool 
 from Philadelphia, They arrived safely, and were imme- 
 diately waited upon by members of the church and cor- 
 diallv welcomed. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mr. Metcalfe in England— The Death of Joseph Brotherton, M.P.— Re- 
 turns to his Church in Philadelphia — Death of Dr. William A. Alcott — 
 Election of Rev. Dr. Metcalfe to the Presidency of the Vegetarian So- 
 ciety — Ordination of his Successor in the Ministry — Celebration of the 
 Semi-Centennial Anniversary of his own Ordination — The Closing Days 
 of his Life — Death — Remarks on his Life — The Funeral Sermon. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Metcalfe w T as immediately installed into 
 his pastoral duties, establishing a free and friendly inti- 
 macy with all the members of the church. Again he was 
 cordially greeted by his old friend, Joseph Brotherton, 
 MP., who, as the early minister of the Salford church, 
 was still looked to by its members as their chief adviser 
 in all difficulties. James Simpson, Esq., President of the 
 Yegetarian Society, also gave him hearty welcome, and 
 soon had him engaged in the Yegetarian cause as a lecturer. 
 He visited in this capacity not only many of the towns of 
 
42 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 England, bat, in company with Mr. Simpson, he also ad- 
 dressed meetings in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and several 
 smaller towns of Scotland. He was peculiarly gratified 
 .with the attention which was given by the large numbers 
 of the intelligent and sedate people of Scotland to the 
 cause of Vegetarianism and Temperance. In fact, all his 
 labors here appear to have been of an encouraging char- 
 acter. 
 
 But the prominent purpose which he ever kept in view 
 was that of supplying a worthy successor to the pulpit of 
 Christ Church, Salford. "He assumed the duty of impart- 
 ing a systematic course of instruction to a class of young 
 men in Bible-Christian Theology. Of this class he ex- 
 pressed himself as quite sanguine, — its members evincing 
 superior intelligence and pious devotion in their studies. 
 He was the more earnest in this endeavor, as the church 
 in Philadelphia, which, under Divine Providence, he had 
 been instrumental in building, up, was urging his speedy 
 return. 
 
 Whilst thus busily engaged, he was startled by the 
 sudden death of his old and endeared friend the Rev. 
 Joseph Brotherton. Without any symptoms of previous 
 sickness, he quietly and quickly passed from this transitory 
 state to the eternal world, on the morning of January 8th, 
 1857. This was the most severe bereavement that the 
 Salford church had experienced since the death of the Rev. 
 Di\ Cowherd. Mr. Brotherton was highly esteemed by 
 the community at large. He had represented Salford in 
 Parliament for more than twenty years, and was other- 
 wise connected with its municipal government, as well as 
 being an active member of several of its benevolent, lite- 
 rary, and scientific associations. The mournful duty de- 
 volved upon the Rev. Dr. Metcalfe of performing the last 
 sad rites over the lifeless remains of his beloved friend. 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 43 
 
 On Sunday, January 18th, he delivered a discourse " On 
 the Death of the late J. Brotherton, Esq., M.P.," in Christ 
 Church, Salford. Besides the mourning family and church- 
 members, there were in attendance members of Parliament, 
 the town-officials, and a large concourse of citizens By 
 request of the church-deacons, the address was published 
 in pamphlet form. 
 
 The time was now rapidly approaching when Mr. Met- 
 calfe would be at liberty to return to Philadelphia, accord- 
 ing to the terms of the agreement. But the congregation 
 were now, since their bereavement, more than ever desirous 
 of retaining him with them permanently. The church in 
 Philadelphia, however, pressed their claims upon him, so 
 that he declined to prolong his stay much beyond the 
 period fixed. Mr. Metcalfe and his wife made their final 
 arrangements for departure ; and, in the early part of 
 August, they bade an affectionate farewell to their many 
 kind and dearly-beloved friends in England. They reached 
 the port of New York on the 24th of the same month, 
 where they were received by a committee of the church. 
 They arrived at their own home on the evening of the fol- 
 lowing day, where tea had been prepared for them and 
 the church members generally. The meeting and greet- 
 ings on both sides were most cordial and happy. Mr. 
 Metcalfe resumed his ministerial duties on Sunday, Sep- 
 tember 7th, and preached to a large congregation. He was 
 also called upon by his old patients to recommence his 
 medical practice ; and his labors in the cause of Tem- 
 perance and Vegetarianism were assumed as readily as 
 though no interruption had taken place. 
 
 As life sinks apace, we are called upon to mourn the 
 departure of friend after friend, in quicker succession than 
 we appeared to do in our earlier years. This was Mr. 
 Metcalfe's experience. Another friend and colaborer in 
 
44 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the cause of Vegetarianism had been summoned by the 
 hand of Death from this world of shadows. Dr. William 
 A. Alcott, who had toiled so un weary ingly in the prosecu- 
 tion of philanthropic labors, and who had written so many 
 instructive books of a practical character, died on the 29th 
 of March, 1859, in the sixty-second year of his age, — 
 thirty-one of which had been more or less zealously de- 
 voted to the propagation and practice of Vegetarianism. 
 At the annual meeting of the Vegetarian Society, held 
 September 21st, Dr. Metcalfe was unanimously elected 
 president, which position had been so ably filled by Dr. 
 "Alcott from the time of its organization. On assuming 
 the chair, Dr. Metcalfe delivered a fitting eulogy upon the 
 life, labors, and character of his deceased predecessor. 
 
 My beloved father had frequently, during many years 
 past, expressed great anxiety respecting his successor to 
 the ministry in the Church. On Sunday morning, Sep- 
 tember 4th, 1859, he had the great gratification of engaging 
 in the solemn service of an ordination. His son, the 
 writer of this brief memoir, was presented to him by the 
 senior deacons of the church, Jonathan Wright and Elijah 
 Roth well, as a person whom the members of the church 
 unanimously desired to have introduced into the ministry. 
 After proper examination, the candidate was duly ordained 
 a minister of the word of God, by the venerable hands of 
 the ordaining minister, and the appropriate ceremonies and 
 charges. 
 
 Another occasion which he considered himself as highly 
 favored in being privileged to enjoy, was the semi-centen- 
 nial celebration of his own ordination. In the providence 
 of God, this was granted to the Rev. William Metcalfe, 
 on Sunday, August 11th, 1861. After preaching an ap- 
 propriate sermon on the afternoon of that day, the congre- 
 gation adjourned to the school room of the church. Here, 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 45 
 
 around long tables bountifully supplied with vegetarian 
 fare and profusely decorated with flowers, they consti- 
 tuted themselves into a large family tea-party, — the Rev. 
 Dr. Metcalfe, as the " father in Israel," presiding. Reso- 
 lutions of a grateful and congratulatory character were 
 presented to their venerable minister, besides some other 
 tokens of esteem and affection. A copy of his discourse 
 on that occasion was solicited, which was published by 
 the committee. Thus my father continued to labor in the 
 service of the Lord, and, as he himself remarked, "It was 
 his joy, — and most his joy when most laborious." 
 
 And now we approach the close of this long life of in- 
 cessant activity. Since his return from England, my 
 father had enjoyed general good health. He had been 
 troubled somewhat during the past year with a polypus in 
 his nose : still, he had not been interrupted in any of his 
 ministerial or other duties. Even on the Sabbath before 
 his death he preached with all his accustomed vigor and 
 animation. He appeared to be hoarse, as if from a severe 
 cold : yet his delivery was as distinct as ever. Faithfully 
 and earnestly did he lay before his flock, morning and 
 afternoon of that day, the commandments of the Lord. 
 That night he was taken ill with hemorrhage of the lungs, 
 and on the following morning, when the writer called to 
 see him, he expressed serious doubts of his ultimate re- 
 covery. Still he retained the buoyancy and cheerfulness 
 of his disposition ; and on the succeeding morning he was 
 so much improved that he thought it possible he might 
 again recover. He continued to gain strength, and*was 
 sitting up during most of the day. On Thursday he had 
 been visited by all his children, and his blessing had been 
 bestowed upon them with more than usual serenity. 
 Some remained and took tea with him. All but one had 
 departed, when, about eight o'clock, he prepared to retire 
 
 5 
 
46 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 for the night. And now, like Jacob of old, " when he had 
 made an end of commanding his children," my beloved 
 father literally " gathered up his feet into the bed, and 
 yielded up the spirit, and was gathered unto his people." 
 His removal at last was, therefore, very sudden, and was 
 doubtless caused by a renewal of the hemorrhage. The 
 Rev. William Metcalfe died on Thursday evening, Octo- 
 ber 16th, 1862, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. The 
 silver cord was loosened, the golden bowl was broken, 
 and the wheel of action stood still in the exhausted cistern 
 of the mortal life of this truly good man ; but the soul 
 soared away to the eternal kingdom of its Lord, to join 
 its friends, not lost, but gone before, and to become a more 
 efficient laborer in the cause of humanity, in which it was 
 so much interested. 
 
 The whole life of the Rev. William Metcalfe was one 
 of unremitting labor for the good of others, and for the 
 establishment of the vital principles of Christianity in the 
 souls of his fellow-men. The specific work of his life was 
 that of sowing the seeds and cultivating the principles of 
 Temperance and Vegetarianism and permanently estab- 
 lishing the " Bible-Christian Church" in this country. 
 These were no small labors for one man's life ; and yet the 
 Rev. William Metcalfe was the primary agency, under 
 Divine Providence, for the development and organization 
 of these moral and religious reforms in this hemisphere of 
 the world. He was not, it is true, a noisy, blustering, 
 passionate reformer. Such displays are generally evi- 
 dences of weakness, rather than of power and intelli- 
 gence. He who quietly resists the current of the times, 
 who stands up steadily against its corruptions and vices, 
 and who, from a firm conviction of principle and with a 
 confident reliance on Divine assistance, will not be carried 
 away by faction, opposition, or temptation, — he is the 
 strongest and most practical reformer. The Rev. William 
 
REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 4? 
 
 Metcalfe thus stood and labored for Total Abstinence, for 
 Vegetarianism, and for Bible-Christianity, when there 
 were none but the few gathered friends around him, who 
 had as yet raised a voice in behalf of either. 
 
 No man ever shrunk from publicity more than the 
 Rev. Dr. Metcalfe ; but his ardent zeal for truth impelled 
 him to antagonisms, even at the expense of his feelings 
 and of his own personal ease and comfort. He was 
 deeply reverential, and all his religious sentiments were 
 strong and pure, — thus uniting in himself the character 
 of the saint to that of the reformer. As a pastor and 
 preacher he was prompt and faithful to all his charges. 
 During his entire fifty-two years' ministry, whatever 
 might be his outward difficulties or embarrassments, with 
 but very few exceptions he was to be found in the pulpit 
 every Sabbath-day morning and afternoon, and sometimes 
 also in the evening. His general health was so uniform 
 that the exceptions occasioned by sickness did not number 
 more than five or six Sabbaths. The other exceptions 
 were during the periods when he was crossing the ocean ; 
 and even then he officiated as often as the opportunity 
 presented itself. 
 
 The Rev. William Metcalfe was beloved by his entire 
 congregation as a fond father, and an extensive circle of 
 acquaintances were sincerely attached to him in the bonds 
 of personal friendship. He retained the buoyancy and 
 cheerfulness of his disposition to the last; and the pleas- 
 ant humor and affectionate tenderness of his social inter- 
 course, even on the day of his decease, were in beautiful 
 harmony with his life of temperance and piety. His re- 
 mains were interred in the burial-ground attached to the 
 church which had been built under his auspices. The 
 services were performed by the Rev. E. A. Beaman, who 
 also preached an eloquent and consolatory funeral sermon, 
 on the following Sabbath, to a large congregation. 
 
48 MEMOIR OF REV. WILLIAM METCALFE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Description of a Tablet to the Memory of the Rev. William Metcalfe — 
 Testimonials — Resolutions adopted by the " Bible-Christian Church " of 
 Philadelphia — Letter of Condolence from Christ Church, Salford, Eng- 
 land. 
 
 A tablet has been erected in the church, immediately 
 behind the pulpit which he adorned so long. It is of 
 white Italian marble, placed in a recess having a black- 
 marbled background, thus forming a border to the tablet 
 of four or five inches. The top of the tablet is semicircu- 
 lar, having in it a raised Bible, with rays diverging from 
 it, and over which are the following words: — "Thy 
 Word is a Light unto my Path." Underneath the semi- 
 circle is a scroll, bearing the following inscriptions : — " In 
 Memory of our Beloved Pastor, the Rev. WILLIAM 
 METCALFE, M.D., Founder of the first ' Bible-Chris- 
 tian Church' in America: who departed this life October 
 16th, 1862, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. He was a 
 faithful, enlightened, and exemplary minister of the Word 
 of God for fifty-two years. ' God is not the God of the 
 dead, but of the living.' — Matt. xxii. 32." 
 
 The periodicals of the day, in noticing the death of the 
 Rev. William Metcalfe, paid tribute to his many virtues as 
 a minister of religion and as a moral reformer. Numerous 
 letters were also received by the family, from public and 
 private sources, containing eloquent eulogies on his life 
 and character. Testimonials from the "Bible-Christian 
 Church " in Philadelphia, and also from Christ Church, 
 Salford, England, are herewith appended. 
 
TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. 
 
 The congregation worshiping in the "Bible-Christian Church/' 
 North Third Street, above Girard" Avenue, Philadelphia, assembled in 
 special meeting on the afternoon of Sunday, October 26th, 1862. Ad- 
 dresses were delivered in regard to" the bereavement which the Church 
 had experienced, and, among other proceedings, the following Preamble 
 and Resolutions were presented by Mr. Elijah Rothwell, which were 
 unanimously adopted, and ordered to be engrossed on the Church 
 Journal : 
 
 "Whereas, In the dispensation of our heavenly Father, our beloved 
 Pastor, the Rev. WILLIAM METCALFE, M.D., has been removed by 
 death from the scene of his labors in the external Church, to perform 
 higher services in the Spiritual Church of the Lord; and whereas we 
 have long enjoyed the privilege of his fatherly counsel, and have been 
 intimately acquainted with his many personal virtues and his great 
 sacrifices for the cause of Scripture-founded Christianity; and whereas 
 we earnestly desire and deem it our duty to place on record a true de- 
 lineation of his character : be it, therefore, hereby 
 
 " Resolved, That we behold in the character of our late venerable Pastor 
 that purity of life, that humility of disposition, that equanimity of tem- 
 per, and that peaceful demeanor, which constitute the necessary qualifi- 
 cations of a true apostle of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 "Resolved, That in the domestic circle we saw in the Rev. Dr. Metcalfe 
 a devoted husband and a loving father. In social life he was kind and 
 tender-hearted, and, consequently, was respected and beloved by all who 
 knew him. His love of usefulness caused him to be active in aiding and 
 assisting in all social and moral reforms ; and his name, we are assured, 
 is embalmed in unnumbered hearts, who will transmit the memory of his 
 virtues and usefulness to future generations. 
 
 "Resolved, That in his ministerial duties the Rev. William Metcalfe 
 was faithful and devoted to the service of his Great Exemplar and 
 Teacher, — fearlessly opposing the vicious habits and customs of society 
 with all the ability of his talents and life, — bearing unfaltering testimony 
 
 5* (49) 
 
50 TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. 
 
 of more than fifty-two years to truth, justice, and mercy, and performing 
 punctually, even to the last Sabbath of his life on earth, the sacred duties 
 of his mission as a preacher of Bible- Christianity. 
 
 "Resolved, That a committee be appointed to cause a suitable monu- 
 ment to be erected over the remains of our beloved Pastor, as a token of 
 affection on behalf of the Church of which he was, under Divine Provi- 
 dence, the founder in this country, and for which he so long labored. 
 
 " Jonathan Wright, President. 
 
 " Emanuel Hey, Secretary pro tern." 
 
 Address from the Members of the i( Bible- Christian Church, 1 ' Salford, to 
 their Brethren in Philadelphia, United States. 
 
 Christian Friends : 
 
 By letters from friends on your side of the Atlantic, and from public 
 prints received through the same channels, we are put in possession 
 of the knowledge that your church has recently endured a most dis- 
 tressing bereavement in the death of your faithful friend and pastor, the 
 Rev. William Metcalfe. Bound to you by the endearing ties of long 
 service in the holiest things, associated in your recollections with the 
 happiest and most interesting events of your own and your children's 
 lives, and in perhaps a more sacred way with your troubles and losses, 
 his removal hence cannot fail to be a cause of deep sorrow to all your 
 little flock. The child whom he had baptized and who had lived long 
 enough to recognize the benevolent expression of his countenance, re- 
 flecting the light within, — the young man or maiden whom he has 
 received into the bosom of the Church, and to whom, under God, he has 
 ministered the bread of life and the living waters of comfort and peace, — 
 the devout servant of the Lord, who has waited on his ministrations and 
 profited by the detail of his heavenly experiences and emotions and his 
 intimate acquaintance with the divine truth, — each and all must feel 
 conscious of a void which cannot easily be supplied, — a loss which is all 
 but irreparable. In presence of such a calamity, we desire to offer you 
 our warmest sympathies, and the assurance of our unabated attachment 
 to yourselves and the principles we hold in common. Our hearts unite 
 in "weeping with them that weep," because of the loss to the world in 
 our dear friend's death, and particularly for the loss the "Bible-Christian 
 Church" has sustained thereby. Our own loss and our own sorrow are 
 only second to yours in this afflicting dispensation of Divine Providence; 
 but we desire to encourage and to strengthen you as the Lord has taught 
 
TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. 51 
 
 us. Whilst acknowledging in sadness that "no chastening seemeth for 
 the present joyous, but grievous/' we also hope that this chastisement 
 will " afterwards yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that 
 are exercised thereby." May our heavenly Father so teach you and us 
 that we may find that godly exercise in our present grief, which shall 
 yield us the peaceable fruits of righteousness ! May we learn even now 
 to say, The Lord is gracious and merciful ; his ways are good and right! 
 He is the Father of the fatherless, the Husband of the widow, the Friend 
 of the friendless. In each of these relationships we humbly pray that 
 He may now be manifested to you, "carrying your little ones in his 
 arms as on eagle's wings," consoling the widowed Church with the as- 
 surance of his protection and love, and supplying by the direct influences 
 of his Spirit the need created by the death of your revered minister. 
 
 Our great comfort is that whatever is true or good cannot perish. Its 
 vitality is in the charge of Him who is the truth and who alone is per- 
 fectly good. We have, therefore, no fear that the principles of Bible- 
 Christianity can die. Though they may wane for a season through lack 
 of zeal or the want of faithful men, yet must they spring again, like seeds 
 long buried in the earth, when the needs of mankind lead them to remove 
 the crust of errors and evils that has overlaid the good and the true. 
 
 We sorrow not as those without hope, but as looking and waiting our- 
 selves for the great deliverance, when to die will be gain, inasmuch as we 
 shall be with the Lord. This hope, we doubt not, abides with you, and 
 our prayer to God on your behalf is, that it may abound more and more 
 until the day when faith shall be lost in sight. 
 
 ********* * * * -# 
 
 Praying that our heavenly Father may aid and comfort you at all 
 times, but especially at the present time of need, that He will enlarge 
 you and give you increased proofs of his regard for you, 
 We are, 
 
 Christian friends, 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 James Clark, Minister, 
 Robert Milner, 
 Edwin Collier, 
 Committee of Correspondence. 
 
OUT OF THE CLOUDS 
 
 INTO THE LIGHT. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 ON THE BEING AND UNITY OF GOD. 
 Zechariah xiv. 9. 
 
 We propose delivering a course of Theological instruc- 
 tion on the leading principles of the Bible-Christian 
 Church, and we take as an introductory to such a series 
 of religious Discourses, and as an important leading doc- 
 trine of our Church, The Being and Unity or Oneness of 
 God as our morning's subject. 
 
 We have made this selection from a thorough convic- 
 tion that the idea we entertain in regard to God enters 
 into our every thought, and qualifies every idea relating 
 to Religious doctrines, to the Church and to Worship. 
 Above all other subjects Theological principles should 
 occupy a prominent place in the human mind, and among 
 the most important of these is the idea we entertain 
 respecting the Being, Unity, and attributes of God. If 
 this primary subject be erroneously understood, all the 
 doctrines deduced from it, participating of its nature, will, 
 as a natural consequence, be also erroneous. As is the 
 
 (53) 
 
54 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 fountain, so also will be the streams flowing from it. For 
 that which is supreme or inmost constitutes the very 
 Essential principle' of all that is derived from it ; and the 
 Essential or inmost principle, like the soul in the material 
 body, gives form and appearance after its own peculiar 
 image and nature ; and even when the mind takes into 
 contemplation the truths of Creation or of Revelation, its 
 erroneous opinion relative to the Divine Being, as the 
 medium through which it beholds all such truths, gives 
 to them also a tinge, a coloring, or appearance, in har- 
 mony with its own peculiar nature. Our young friends, 
 therefore, and our hearers generally, will see how very 
 necessary it is that our most earnest attention should be 
 directed to the acquisition of a correct knowledge of the 
 subject before us. 
 
 The man who professes to believe that it is his duty to 
 worship God, must,af he act rationally, do it on the con- 
 viction that there is such a Being. " He that cometh to 
 God must believe that He is" a Being infinite, eternal, 
 unoriginated, and self-existent; the Cause of all other 
 beings, — on whom all being depends, and by whose Good- 
 ness, Wisdom, Power, and Providence all other beings 
 exist, live, and are supplied with the means of continued 
 existence and life, or rather are recipients of life from Him. 
 From the "beauty, order, and regularity manifested in the 
 works of Creation, we may not merely infer the Being of 
 a God of such a character, but we may prove it by a 
 logical demonstration : we cannot calmly contemplate the 
 spangled heavens — that shining frame — and not be con- 
 vinced that such a magnificent display of grandeur, order, 
 and sublimity is evidently the effect of One Almighty 
 Being. There is intelligence, there is wisdom impressed 
 upon the design itself, and this is evidence of the exist- 
 ence and the wisdom of the Designer. When we reflect 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 55 
 
 on the numerous planetary orbs in our solar system, on 
 the regularity and order with which they perform their 
 revolutions round the sun, as the'ir common parent and 
 centre, while each at the same time performs a rotary 
 motion on its own axis by which the days and nights are 
 formed, and the periods fixed for labor and rest ; these are 
 all so many indubitable tokens of infinite intelligence 
 which can exist only in a First Cause, and that First 
 Cause is God, the Infinite, Unoriginated, Self-existent, 
 Eternal, and Living One. 
 
 Whatever may be the condition of man, the Bible 
 teaches him to hope for better things. We are not to rest 
 satisfied with any present attainment, but to press for- 
 ward to a higher mark. Moral and mental acquirements 
 have no absolute stopping-place; whenever they are stayed 
 in their onward progress, we may trace the cause to an 
 enemy attempting to turn aside the purposes of God. 
 As Bible-Christians we receive this Book as a divine 
 composition, containing a Revelation of God, and from 
 God. But objectors say this Book takes for granted two 
 disputable points : first the existence of God, as its re- 
 vealer, and next the existence of the human spirit, capable 
 of receiving his inspiration. It is true these facts are 
 taken for granted by believers in the Bible as a Divine 
 production. But there must be a point from which to 
 start in our inquiries respecting its character. The neces- 
 sity of a Divine Revelation implies man's natural igno- 
 rance of these two things; and the gift of such a revelation 
 proves their reality. If man did not know there was a 
 God, and if he were unacquainted with the spiritualities 
 of his own nature, the circumstance of such a Revelation 
 being made to him is a proof of both. — a proof which is 
 independent of any precise statement contained in that 
 Revelation. But a Divine Revelation has been made, 
 
56 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 therefore God and the human soul exist. The question 
 then arises, Could this knowledge ever have entered the 
 world without Revelation ? Ideas of God and of the 
 human soul exist. They have prevailed during all his- 
 torical time, and among all civilized people, and even 
 many savage tribes are not entirely without them. A 
 universal impression prevails respecting the existence of 
 both. There is an influx universal into the souls of men, 
 teaching both the Being and the Unity of God. Even 
 the Atheists of modern civil life, though they say "there 
 is no God," are not entirely without these impressions; 
 the facts which they indicate may be contrary to their 
 speculations, but not so to their experience. If any of 
 them insist that they have no such experience, we of 
 course believe what they say, but we maintain they have 
 not observed their experiences correctly; or, even if they 
 have, their case does not disprove what every one else 
 acknowledges to be true. If they have no possession of 
 gold, that is no evidence that all other persons are desti- 
 tute of that precious metal. The blind man may truly say 
 he does not see, but it does not follow that all other men 
 are therefore deprived of sight. He, then, who insists 
 that he has no experience as to the universality of im- 
 pressions respecting the Being of a God, only tells us of 
 an exceptional case. But the impression and consequent 
 idea of the existence of God prevails among mankind, and 
 has always done so. Cicero says, " There is no nation so 
 wild and savage, no man so rude and uncultivated, whose 
 mind is not imbued with the opinion that there is a God. 
 Many have wrong sentiments concerning Him, but all 
 think there is a Divine Power." Lord Brougham, in a 
 discourse on Natural Theology, says, " There can hardly 
 be found a tribe so dark and barbarous as to be without 
 some kind of worship, and some belief in a God, and in 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 57 
 
 a future state of existence." To these statements, how- 
 ever, there may be some slight exceptions. Locke, the 
 author of an Essay on the Human Understanding, refers 
 to some savage people, reported by navigators, "among 
 whom there was found to be no notion of a God, and no 
 religion." Swedenborg also remarks in his T. C. R., 274, 
 that there were persons born in remote islands who had 
 no knowledge at all concerning God. But these cases are 
 so few as to be of little weight against the general argu- 
 ment that there is an influx universal into the souls of 
 men, teaching the Being of a God. As, then, no period of 
 history nor scarcely any people can be shown to have 
 been without this impression, whence did it originate ? 
 How did the first men obtain this kuowledge ? How did 
 the idea of God originate with primitive men ? Various 
 opinions have prevailed in relation to these questions. 
 They may be divided, however, into three general classes, 
 among each of which there is great diversity of senti- 
 ment. 
 
 First, the Atheists: they assert that there is no such a 
 being as God! Some of these say that the idea of God 
 is the offspring of ignorance, and others among them that 
 it is the invention of fear, or a device of the clergy. 
 
 Second, the Deists: they admit that there is a God, 
 but deny that the Sacred Scriptures are any revelation 
 from Him. Among them, some maintain that the idea of 
 God's existence is impressed upon us by what they call 
 the hand of nature ; others of them, that the existence of 
 a God is a philosophical idea; and others, that it is de- 
 rived from feeling and natural logic. 
 
 Third, the Religionists : they believe in God's exist- 
 ence, and receive the Bible as a Divine communication 
 from Him. With some of these, there is no very definite 
 opinion about the origin of this idea; others again insist, 
 
 6 
 
58 OUT OF TEE CLOUDS: 
 
 among whom are Bible-Christians, that the idea of a God 
 is the sole issue and end of Divine Revelation. 
 
 It is not our purpose at this time to dwell on either the 
 Atheistic or the Deistic opinions, but rather to refer to 
 the light which Revelation sheds on our subject. We 
 therefore come at once to the idea entertained by pro- 
 fessors of religion, and particularly to that of Bible-Chris- 
 tians, on this topic. It seems plain to us that the knowledge 
 of God's existence must have originally sprung out of his 
 Revelation of the truth to man. No other view can ade- 
 quately account for its antiquity, its universality, or its 
 permanence. "Now we all know that the idea of God 
 exists; and this, upon the principle w'e have laid down, is 
 a proof that God exists. No man is conscious of having 
 originated this idea in himself. All now know that it is 
 the result of instruction ; there must, then, have been a first 
 instructor. There may be, there doubtless is, an internal 
 influx operating upon the mind of every one, inclining it 
 to the favorable reception of the idea of a God, when it is 
 presented; still, without the presentation that influence 
 could have no ground nor mental plane on which to act. 
 The primeval idea can be accounted for upon no other 
 principle than that of God having revealed Himself to the 
 human mind. We maintain therefore that the idea of the 
 existence of God has come into the world by means of 
 Revelation. We do not mean to say that that Revelation 
 was the Bible precisely as w r e have it, because the idea 
 of God's existence prevailed for many ages before the 
 Bible became a written Revelation." But the first por- 
 tions of the Bible contain a history of the religious con- 
 dition of the earliest inhabitants of the world, and from it 
 we learn that God made Himself known to them ; and that 
 they acknowledged his existence. 
 
 Immediately after the creation of man, God is repre- 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 59 
 
 sented as having spoken to him. This, of course, was in 
 itself Revelation. Thus the oldest history extant, apart 
 from the fact of its being itself a revelation, declares that 
 the first idea which man had of God's existence was com- 
 municated from God Himself. It is therefore historically- 
 certain that all the ideas concerning God which have 
 ever existed in the world must have originally sprung 
 from God's having, at different times, revealed or mani- 
 fested Himself to men ; — not that the perversions of Reve- 
 lation came from Him; but even they prove that there 
 was some primary truth to pervert. But while it is con- 
 ceded that the idea of the Being of a God, since its first 
 promulgation, has been propagated by means of instruc- 
 tion, more or less imperfect, the perpetuation of it has 
 been assisted by other means. The wonderful fact of its 
 continuance and universality cannot be accounted for on 
 the ground of mere teaching. This human effort, carried 
 on by the faithful teachers, members of his Church, has 
 always been assisted by a Divine provision. As we have 
 already said, there has always been an influx from God 
 into the souls of men, inducing them to receive favorably 
 the idea that there is a God. Without this influx human 
 effort would have been fruitless. That there is an influx 
 of this nature is well known. The Bible teaches it; and 
 experience confirms it. "A man can receive nothing ex- 
 cept it be given him from heaven." Again, " Every good 
 and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the 
 Father of lights." The order of the descent of this influx 
 is for the superior to flow into the inferior : for God, who 
 is the Supreme Spirit, to cause an influx of Himself into 
 the human soul ; from the soul into the mind, and from 
 the mind into the nervous and muscular organs which 
 constitute the body; and into each of these according 
 to its peculiar adaptability. The knowledge of the being 
 
60 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 of a God, since it was first revealed, has been universally 
 taught, — taught, it must be confessed, in numerous cases, 
 with strange additions, and marvelous omissions and per- 
 versions ; but still the idea of a Supreme existence — 
 Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent — has been at 
 the foundation of them all. 
 
 The truth, having been once introduced to the human 
 mind, and continued by external teaching, has been met 
 by a spiritual influx, inspiring the idea with a living char- 
 acter, and so providing for the continuation of the teaching, 
 by perpetuating the belief. Everywhere may be seen 
 testimonies of his Being, and the imprint of his Benevo- 
 lence and other attributes is legibly enstamped on Uni- 
 versal Creation. It may be also clearly perceived that 
 there can be but One Great First Cause of all things. 
 Unity of purpose is visible in all the diversified objects 
 throughout Creation; everything indicates the existence 
 of one intelligent, indivisible, and independent Being; and 
 yet the order and harmony manifested in all things con- 
 clusively show there cannot possibly be more than one 
 such intelligent and Omnipresent Being.* 
 
 * While we are zealous for the Unity or Oneness of the Divine 
 Being, we would not that any of our hearers should confound us 
 with those known in the religious world as Unitarians. No two 
 views concerning the Godhead can be more at variance. The 
 Unitarians consider Jesus Christ to have had no existence till his 
 birth into the world ; they suppose Him to have been a mere man 
 like themselves, the natural son of Joseph and Mary, and con- 
 sequently as having no claims, by birth or descent, superior to those 
 of any other moral human being. Whereas the members of the 
 Bible-Christian Church believe and maintain that God was in 
 Christ; that He is "The True God and Eternal Life;" "God 
 over all, blessed forever ;" that " in Him dwells all the fullness of 
 the Godhead bodily." 
 
 These truths we shall demonstrate in our Discourse on The Lord 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 61 
 
 It is from this great First Cause, " the one living and 
 true God," that all Creation subsists, and by whom all 
 created substances were originally produced. A little 
 reflection will satisfy the minds of our hearers that it is 
 impossible any substance could ever spring up out of 
 nothing; from nothing, nothing can come. All things 
 that exist, therefore, must necessarily have been produced 
 from God, the Creator of all ; and produced in a way and 
 order that effectually preserves the most perfect and com- 
 plete distinction between the Great Creator and the 
 creatures of his hand. But we are not left to vain con- 
 jecture on the subject before us. 
 
 In Divine Revelation He has given the most absolute 
 and unmistakable declarations both of his Being and 
 Unity. The Bible says, " Hear, Israel, the Lord our 
 God is one Lord." "Thus saith the Lord, the King of 
 Israel, I am the First, and I am the Last, and beside me 
 there is no God." " Thou shalt have no other Gods be- 
 fore me." " I am the Lord thy God, and thou shalt know 
 no God but me." "In the beginning God created the 
 heavens and the earth." "I am the Lord that maketh all 
 things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that 
 spreadeth abroad the earth by myself 17 "I have made 
 the earth, and created man upon it ; I, even my own 
 hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts 
 have I commanded." "There is One God, and there is 
 none else." Is it not therefore obvious to our hearers, that 
 it is entirely at variance with both enlightened reason and 
 Divine Revelation to say with " the fool, there is no God" 
 or with some professors of religion that there are more 
 Gods than one? 
 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ. We have mentioned them here only to 
 prevent any misapprehension on the part of our hearers. 
 
 6* 
 
62 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 From what has been said, we trust our hearers will see 
 the weighty importance of having a just and clear idea of 
 the Being and Unity of God, as constituting the first 
 article of true religion. They will perceive the necessity 
 and use of Revelation to help us to the attainment of a 
 proper idea of God and his attributes. Thus aided, it 
 will be seen that Creation, or what is called Nature, and 
 all its parts, must have had a cause or beginning; and 
 that all things owe their being to God. He must have 
 existed from eternity as One, Indivisible, Independent, 
 Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent God. It will 
 also have been perceived that the imprint of his Being 
 and of his Divine Attributes is enstamped on Universal 
 Creation ; and that in harmony with these there is an 
 influx universal ever flowing into the souls of men, in- 
 ducing the idea of the Being and Unity of God. We have 
 shown, also, that there is no people throughout the world 
 possessed of religion and intellectual intelligence that 
 does not confess the Being of a God, and that He is One. 
 And we have directed your attention to the Scripture 
 testimony with respect to the Being and Oneness of God. 
 
 Almighty God ! thou First and Last! 
 
 How wonderful, how great art Thou! 
 The present, future, and the past 
 
 To Thee are one eternal now. 
 Thou Infinite! no finite thought 
 
 Could e'er approach thy high abode; 
 But as Revealed, to vision brought, 
 
 We see Thee One !— We know Thee God ! 
 
 And now our fervent prayer to that glorious Being is, 
 that all that has been said in harmony with his Divine 
 Will may be deeply impressed upon your minds, take root 
 in your thoughts, and bring forth fruit unto eternal life. 
 Amen. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 63 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 John x. 30. 
 
 In our recent Discourse on the Being and Unity of God, 
 we attempted to make you acquainted with the views of 
 the Bible-Christian Church respecting that important sub- 
 ject. From what was then said, it is presumed we may 
 justly conclude, without offering violence to the truth, 
 that there is a God, and that He is One. Every indi- 
 vidual in the enjoyment of his rational powers must admit 
 it would be the height of folly to acquiesce in the creed of 
 the Atheist, and say " there is no God ;" and that it would 
 be nothing less at variance with the truth to suppose for a 
 moment that there are more Gods than one. The charac- 
 teristics of a God are indelibly enstamped upon all crea- 
 tion, and interwoven throughout the whole moral and in- 
 tellectual nature of humanity. We purpose, this morning, 
 bespeaking your serious and Christian attention to the 
 importance of a knowledge of the true God ; and as this 
 knowledge is of the utmost importance to the everlasting 
 interests of every one of us, anything that has a tendency 
 to answer satisfactorily the question, " Who is the Lord," 
 or the true God? will doubtless be received by every one 
 of our hearers with joy and gladness of heart. It is not 
 sufficient for all the purposes of religion and life to know 
 simply that God is, and that God is One ; but it is also 
 
64 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 expedient to know as correctly as possible who is the great 
 object claiming our best affections, and who demands the 
 warmest gratitude and thanksgivings of our hearts. 
 
 In commencing our subject, therefore, we would ask, in 
 the language of the Bible, "Who is the Lord?" "What 
 think ye of Christ?" These questions are short and sim- 
 ple, and the only true answers to them are equally so. In 
 solving these queries, we would state, according to our 
 view of the Bible testimony, that the glorified Jesus 
 Christ is the only Lord. Some one may perhaps say, Is 
 He the only Lord? We answer, Bible-Christians believe 
 He is the only Lord, — "The only wise God, our 
 Saviour," in " whom dwelleth all the fullness of the God- 
 head bodily; 11 that " He and the Father are One." In 
 making these declarations, it may be thought necessary 
 that we should enter into some more full explanation of 
 so important a doctrine as that respecting the Supreme 
 Divinity of Jesus Christ, and attempt to show how the 
 doctrine is to be understood. This we will make an effort 
 to do, and afterwards proceed to the scriptural proof of 
 our proposition, so that no doubts may remain upon the 
 minds of our hearers as to the truth of the Bible-Christian 
 doctrine. The Infinite and Eternal God, the Creator and 
 Father of all in Heaven and throughout the universe, is, 
 in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, revealed to us by 
 his name Jehovah, — translated Lord ; .and we are in- 
 formed, in that revelation which He has been pleased to 
 give of Himself, that He did, at sundry times and in divers 
 manners, through the instrumentality of Hoses, the Patri- 
 archs and Prophets, manifest Himself and reveal his will 
 to his church and people; that his appearance was always 
 to instruct them in things belonging to their peace, and 
 to point out to them the path of wisdom and of true holi- 
 ness. But such was the proneness of fallen human nature 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 65 
 
 to folly and wickedness, that mankind from the fall con- 
 tinued to go still farther and farther from the sphere of 
 the Divine Presence ; wickedness and folly attended their 
 idolatrous and destructive progress, until their spiritual 
 "beauty and comeliness" as the Lord's people were ex- 
 changed for that direful and distressing state described by 
 the prophet, viz., " The whole head is sick, and the whole 
 heart faint ; from the sole of the foot even unto the head 
 there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and 
 putrefying sores." The mental and moral degeneracy of 
 the people, indeed, increased so rapidly in regard to spir- 
 itual things that " Wickedness burned as an oven, and the 
 foolishness of men was so great" that, notwithstanding 
 the Divine manifestations, many began to say in their 
 hearts, "There is no God." In order, then, to reach this 
 low state of human mentality and effectually redeem man- 
 kind from this deadly infatuation and folly, Jehovah, our 
 Creator and Heavenly Father, whose goodness and mercy 
 had followed sinning mankind in all their declining ways 
 and spiritual degeneracies, in his love and in his pity, be- 
 came our Redeemer and Saviour. He visited his people, 
 and, in the person of Jesus Christ, brought Life and im- 
 mortality to light where darkness only had reigned; for 
 " God was then manifested in the flesh," — " God was in 
 Christ" to restore man to the condition he had lost by 
 his sinfulness, and to open again that way of life, and 
 heaven, and happiness which, through the transgressions 
 of man, had become closed. On this account, and for this 
 specific purpose, " God was in Christ, reconciling the 
 world to Himself." When, however, we announce that 
 Jesus Christ is the "Only True God and Eternal 
 Life, — the supreme object of all Christian worship, — we 
 would guard and caution our hearers, and especially our 
 young hearers, against imagining that we confine the 
 
66 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 name Jesus Christ to the finite and material form 
 assumed from the mother ; for with respect to the mate- 
 rial body, Jesus Christ was subject to hunger and thirst, 
 and to all other infirmities to which nature must forever 
 be subject; but, to reach and redeem man, He also 
 assumed, through the same medium, the fallen, sinful 
 human spirit that needed to be redeemed, — the affections 
 and thoughts of maa's sinful soul. It was in this 
 assumed spirit of man that He experienced temptation, — 
 for God cannot be tempted ; that He met and conquered 
 the powers of darkness, " led captivity captive," and re- 
 deemed this assumed spirit or nature of man from all its 
 impurities, filled it with its appropriate degree of his 
 own Glory, and reunited it with the Essential Divine 
 Spirit (the Love and Wisdom of the Great Infinite, which 
 stood into Christ unfinitedly, and became, as it were, soul 
 in Him). In this manner He opened a new way of access 
 to mankind for their salvation. He came that He might 
 be able to reach and to save all men. A careful distinc- 
 tion, then, must ever be made between that which in reality 
 is Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, his genuine Man- 
 hood, and that material, organized body of flesh and blood 
 which was needed in this outer world during the process of 
 redemption, but which, when that work was accomplished, 
 was put off and dissipated in the sepulchre, and finally 
 deflagrated at the ascension, — for " Flesh and blood," we 
 are expressly told in the sacred volume, " cannot enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven." It was in this assumed human, 
 then, that the Lord God of Israel, as Jesus Christ, 
 visited, and taught, and redeemed his people. The term 
 Jesus Christ, in the New Testament; has a similar signi- 
 fication to that of the Lord God, so frequently mentioned 
 in the Old. The term Jehovah, or Lord, implies the 
 Divine Love; and the term God, the Divine Wisdom. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 67 
 
 This Love and Wisdom, when manifested in the fleshly 
 tabernacle of Jesus, for the redemption and salvation of 
 man, is the true Jesus Christ, — the name Jesus denoting 
 the Divine Love ; and Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed, 
 the Divine Wisdom, which, as the Word, was made flesh, 
 or rather made manifest in the flesh, and we beheld his 
 glory. We have made these remarks in order to prevent 
 any confusion arising in the minds of our hearers respect- 
 ing the highly important principle we have this morning 
 announced, — that Jesus Christ is the " Only true God 
 and Eternal Life," and that none of our hearers may 
 suppose that we call that God which in reality is not 
 even Man ; for flesh and blood, considered literally, ac- 
 cording to the common acceptation of the terms, cannot 
 be man : these only form the material investment or or- 
 ganized body, in which and by which man, as an immortal 
 being or soul, is known, is seen, exists, and materializes 
 his living purposes in this outward world of nature. It 
 is the Will and Understanding which together form the 
 human mind, in which are contained a vast store of affec- 
 tions, thoughts, perceptions, and intellectual powers, which 
 all together make up what the Bible calls the living soul ; 
 and the living soul is the real man. Justly, therefore, has 
 the poet, Dr. W r atts, said, "The mind is the measure of 
 the man." We say, then, as Bible-Christians, that Jeho- 
 vah God, mentioned in the Old Testament, and Jesus 
 Christ, mentioned in the New, are only different names 
 expressive of the self-same Divine Being, — the different 
 names being properly adapted to express the difference 
 between the nature of the Jewish Dispensation and that 
 of Christianity, and to indicate the true character and 
 quality of each. When we maintain that Jesus Christ 
 is the only true God and Lord of heaven and earth, we 
 wish to be distinctlv understood that we make not the 
 
68 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 most distant allusion to the mere body of flesh and blood 
 which was crucified on Mount Calvary, but we speak of 
 the Love and Wisdom which stood unfinitedly into the 
 assumed manhood of Jesus Christ, and gave the power 
 of performing all the mighty works and teaching all the 
 heavenly principles ascribed to Him in the Gospel. There- 
 fore, according to the doctrines of the Bible-Christian 
 Church, the work of human redemption did not consist in 
 Jesus Christ coming into the world to offer Himself as a 
 sacrifice in the place of sinful man, with a view of appeas- 
 ing the wrath of the Father, of satisfying his vindictive 
 justice, and, by such a process, of atoning for the sins of 
 the world ; for, in the first place, there is no such odious 
 passion as wrath in the Divine Being, nor is He possessed 
 of any such attribute as vindictive justice. " God is Love, 
 — the same yesterday, today, and forever;" He changeth 
 not. In the next place, it is contrary to every principle 
 of justice, divine or human, that the innocent should suffer 
 for the crimes of the guilty. " The fathers shall not be 
 put to death for the children; neither shall the children 
 be put to death for the fathers ; but every man shall be 
 put to death for his own sin.' 7 And, in the next place, 
 there is no Divine Being distinct from the glorified Lord 
 Jesus Christ to whom to make atonement. " 1 and the 
 Father are one." But redemption, being a work purely 
 Divine, consisted in the actual assumption of the fallen spirit 
 or nature of man, and therein subduing the powers of sin 
 and darkness, introducing order and purity where sin had 
 reigned, bringing into subjection the powers of hell, and 
 glorifying the manhood or human nature assumed at the 
 incarnation as the medium or mediator between the other- 
 wise invisible and unknown God and his creature man. 
 " God was in Christ reconciling [or atoning] the world to 
 Himself." With this brief explanation, we now proceed to 
 
INTO TIIE LIGHT. 69 
 
 the Bible testimony illustrative of the truth of the doctrine 
 that the glorified Jesus Christ is the only true God and 
 Eternal Life. 
 
 If we can prove from the Scriptures that the same attri- 
 butes, powers, and properties are -ascribed to Jesus Christ 
 which belong only to the Eternal God, then, upon the 
 just acknowledgment that God is One, we may safely 
 say that Jesus Christ is The Only Wise God, The Cre- 
 ator, The Redeemer, The Regenerator and Saviour, The 
 Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent Giver of every 
 good, and the Possessor of all those Divine Attributes 
 which the sacred volume ascribes unto God Most High. 
 
 We shall now consider the language of Scripture with 
 regard to, — 
 
 I. The Creator. 
 II. The Redeemer. 
 
 III. The Regenerator. ^ 
 
 I. Who is the Creator? We read : " In the beginning 
 God created the heavens and the earth." "In the begin- 
 ning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
 Word was God. All things were made by Him [Christ], 
 and without Him was not anything made that was made." 
 " He was in the w T orld, and the world was made.by Him." 
 And now, beloved, let us look at this testimony. We 
 have stated, God is Love ; God is Wisdom : these are the 
 two principal attributes which constitute Godhead. By 
 these, in the beginning, was the world created. In the 
 beginning was the Word. The Word was made flesh. 
 Who was made flesh ? Jesus Christ, the living Word. 
 All things were made by Him. He, then, is our Creator, 
 and He, in consequence, is our God. The Psalmist says 
 of the Lord God as Creator, " The heavens are thine ; 
 the earth also is thine; as for the world and the fullness 
 
 7 
 
70 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 thereof, Thou hast founded them." But the apostle says 
 of Jesus Christ, "By Him were all things created that 
 are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, 
 whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or 
 powers: ^11 things were created by Him and for Him.' 7 
 Now, we wish you to reflect more particularly on the 
 words, "all things were created by Him and for Him." 
 When the angels and glorified spirits of the just are re- 
 ferred to as praising God the Creator because of his 
 Divine glory, they exclaim, " Thou hast created all things, 
 and for thy pleasure they are and were created." At 
 what a beautiful illustration of our Bible-Christian doc- 
 trine, then, "are we now arrived ! He by ivhom and for 
 whom all things were created is God. But all things 
 were created by and for Jesus Christ; therefore Jesus 
 Christ is God ; and as we have already shown there is 
 but one God, so we trust our hearers will see Jesus 
 Christ must be the One only God. We will merely refer to 
 one more text from each Testament, relating to Creation. 
 The Psalmist says of Jehovah, " Of old thou hast laid the 
 foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work 
 of thy hands." The apostle says, " Christ, in the begin- 
 ning, laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens 
 are the work of his hands." Comment, here, we deem 
 unnecessary.* 
 
 II. Who is The Redeemer? Redemption is a work 
 purely Divine ; no created being could redeem man. If 
 we turn to our Bibles, we shall find the Psalmist saying, 
 " Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord of Truth." Again 
 he says, of Israel, "They remembered the High God was 
 their Redeemer." In Isaiah we read, " Fear not, — I have 
 redeemed thee; thou art mine;" "The year of my Re- 
 deemed is come." In his love and in his pity He redeemed 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 71 
 
 them and was their Saviour. We find, also, the same 
 Almighty Being, the Lord God of Israel, is represented 
 as the Saviour of his people. "I, the Lord, am the Holy 
 One of Israel, thy Saviour ; I am the Lord, and beside 
 me there is no Saviour." From these, and numerous 
 other passages which might be cited, it is abundantly 
 evident that the Redeemer and Saviour of mankind is the 
 Lord God Almighty. But, according to the Gospel, 
 Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Saviour; therefore 
 He alone is God. " For Jesus will save his people from 
 their sins." "This is Christ, the Saviour of the world." 
 And Jesus Christ Himself, in order to comfort and en- 
 courage his afflicted people, says, " Come unto me, all ye 
 that labor and are heavy laden, and J will give you rest. 
 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall find 
 rest unto your souls." Does it not clearly appear, from 
 this, that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Saviour? 
 Is it not evident that none but God could redeem? but if 
 Jesus Christ did redeem, must He not be " God over all, 
 blessed forever" ? 
 
 III. Who is The Regenerator? The Supreme God is 
 also said, in the Old Testament, to be the regenerator of 
 mankind. "I will take away the stony heart, and will 
 put a new spirit within you, and give you a heart of 
 flesh." But in the Gospel Jesus Christ is represented as 
 the regenerator of all men. "If any man be in Christ 
 Jesus, he is a new creature." "As many as received Him, 
 to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even 
 to them that believe on his name, who are born, not of 
 blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, 
 but of God." 
 
 We trust our hearers will see, from all these scriptural 
 quotations, that Creation, Redemption, Salvation, and 
 
72 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 Regeneration are described as the work of the Lord (Je- 
 hovah) God of Israel. But the operations of Creation, 
 Redemption, Salvation, and Regeneration are attributed 
 also to Jesus Christ in the Gospel; and as there is but 
 One God, it therefore follows that Jesus Christ — if the 
 Gospel be true — is the One only God. 
 
 We might proceed according to this order, and show 
 from the authority of the Bible that Omnipotence, Omni- 
 science, Omnipresence, and Immutability — attributes 
 which belong only to the Supreme God — are all ascribed 
 to the glorified Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is 
 not, however, thought needful, at present, to adduce other 
 Bible proofs in relation to these attributes. Suffice it to 
 state, we have endeavored briefly to prove that Jesus 
 Christ is the One only God of heaven and earth; Our 
 Creator, — "All things were made by Him;" Our Re- 
 deemer and Saviour; — "There is no other name under 
 heaven whereby men can be saved;" Our Regenerator, 
 — "He guides us into all truth." As to his Omnipo- 
 tence. — "Every knee shall bow to Him, every tongue 
 confess that Jesus is the Lord." His eye now rests upon 
 us all and searches our hearts. He therefore is Omni- 
 scient and Omnipresent; for He is everywhere. We 
 may feel his power within us now, nerving our minds to 
 this important duty of developing the doctrines of his 
 Holy Word, building up the walls of his Zion, strength- 
 ening our feeble efforts, and whispering to our souls, 
 " Fear not, / am with you ; be not dismayed, I am your 
 God: for as I live, to me every knee shall bow, and every 
 tongue confess that I am Christ the Lord." In the 
 book of Revelation, a glorious being, whom John knew 
 to be the Lord Jesus Christ, reveals Himself to this be- 
 loved dis.ciple. "And when I saw him," says John, " I fell 
 at his feet as dead. And He laid his right hand upon me, 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. f3 
 
 saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First and the Last ; 
 I am He that liveth and was dead ; and behold I am alive 
 for evermore," — or, if correctly and literally translated, 
 "The Living One." How magnificent are these declara- 
 tions! They convey to the mind, in the most powerful 
 manner, the idea of the Supreme, the Sole and Exclusive 
 Divinity in Him who utters them. Can anything be be- 
 fore the First, or beyond the Last? He, then, who is 
 entitled to declare this of Himself must be the All-in-All, 
 — the Originator and Sustainer of all things, — the Su- 
 preme and Only God, who is from everlasting to everlast- 
 ing. But these are the declarations of the glorified Jesus 
 Christ, as seen and heard by John in spiritual vision, 
 and commanded to be proclaimed to the Church for the 
 information of its members from generation to generation. 
 Jesus calls Himself, also, " The Alpha and Omega, the 
 Beginning and the Ending, who is, and who was, and who 
 is to come, — the Almighty." In this language there is an 
 obvious assumption of the Attributes of Jehovah. The 
 meaning of the word Jehovah is, Was, Is, and Is to Be, — 
 i.e., The self-existent God. And when Jesus declares 
 He is the Living One, and that He and the Father are 
 One, it is nothing less than an assumption of Deity. 
 Either, therefore, John was deceived, and Jesus Christ 
 deceived him, or Jesus Christ is the very God, the Lord 
 of Glory. After a careful study of the Scripture testimony, 
 we are fully persuaded there is no medium between treat- 
 ing Jesus Christ as an impostor and ivorshiping Him as 
 God. If He were not God, He deceived the apostles and 
 his primitive followers, and they have deceived us; and 
 the Gospel, in such a case, is no other than a cunningly- 
 devised fable. But we know, from a long, anxious, and 
 prayerful investigation, that Jesus Christ is " The true 
 
 i* 
 
T4 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 God and Eternal Life," and we can never let go this great 
 Bible truth. 
 
 In conclusion: If He who created the universe, and 
 who giveth life, perpetual support, and everything useful 
 and necessary for the good of all the inhabitants of its 
 unnumbered worlds, — if He who from pure love and mercy 
 followed man from his fall in all his devious wanderings 
 after he turned himself from his Creator to the delusive 
 pleasures of sin, and followed him in order that He might 
 redeem and save, — is the proper object of worship, then 
 that object is the Lord Jesus Christ. Again : If He on 
 whose name the primitive Christians called, in whose 
 name the apostles and their fellow-laborers baptized the 
 nations and performed the miracles which they wrought in 
 confirmation of their testimony, into whose hands, in the 
 solemn hour of death, they commended their departing 
 spirits, and of whom one of them has expressly said, 
 " This is the true God and Eternal Life," — if He to 
 whom the innumerable company of the heavenly host 
 direct their increasing acts of adoration and praise as to 
 Him who alone is worthy, is Jesus Christ, then is Jesus 
 Christ the only Lord God and our Saviour, — the only 
 proper object of Christian worship, adoration, thanks- 
 giving, and praise. And to Him, therefore, be glory, now 
 and forever. Amen. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 75 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 ON THE TRINITY. 
 
 I. John v. 7. — " There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, 
 the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." 
 
 In two former discourses we have addressed you on the 
 Being and Unity of God, and on the Lord Jesus Christ 
 as the true God and Eternal Life. We purpose this 
 morning to show that the doctrines of the Divine Unity 
 and the Divinity of Jesus Christ, together with that of a 
 Divine Trinity, are all strictly consistent with the truths 
 of Christianity, when the nature of each one is properly 
 explained and clearly understood. 
 
 To proceed in this inquiry, however, it appears neces- 
 sary to state what the opinions of Christians generally 
 are respecting the doctrine of a Divine Trinity, and, as 
 far as possible, to ascertain whether these opinions are 
 founded in error or in truth. If they are founded in truth, 
 they ought to be received with thankfulness and rejoicing; 
 but, on the other hand, if in error, they should be rejected 
 and banished from our minds. Now, the prevailing doc- 
 trine among the various denominations of Christians upon 
 this important subject, with one or two exceptions, is, that 
 the Divine Trinity consists of three separate and distinct 
 Persons, — that each Divine Person is by himself God and 
 Lord ; but that these three, although separate and distinct 
 from each other, form but One Infinite and Eternal God. 
 
16 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 In these addresses, our object as Bible-Christians is, not 
 to rush on with the tide of popular opinion, nor to receive 
 any doctrine of religion upon the mere authority of a 
 writer or speaker; we shall investigate this matter, and, 
 taking the example of the Bereans of old time, shall 
 search diligently the Scriptures to see whether these 
 things are so. And whenever we are so fortunate as to 
 discover truth, no sinister motives, no considerations on 
 earth, should be allowed to stand between us and the 
 reception of so precious a treasure. That a Trinity of 
 Persons is not scriptural, is, to us, evident from this single 
 consideration, that the Bible cannot teach two opposite 
 doctrines; and if, as we have already seen, the Bible sets 
 forth the Unity of God, it is plain that a plurality of Divine 
 Persons is inadmissible. 
 
 It is argued by those in favor of the idea of a Trinity of 
 Divine Persons, that the Scriptures reveal the fact. They 
 say, " Of the mode of the fact" the Scriptures " offer no 
 explanation. And where the Bible is silent, it becomes 
 us to be silent also. The fact, and not the manner of it, 
 being that which is revealed, is the proper and only object 
 of our faith. " There is something of plausibility in this 
 mode of arguing, and it is by resorting to such arguments 
 as these that so many of the human family have been 
 lulled to mental ease, and prevented from examining into 
 subjects which are highly important and vitally con- 
 nected with their best interests. 
 
 We are repeatedly told that the doctrine of a Trinity of 
 Divine Persons is a fact, — and that the Bible reveals this 
 fact. We would simply ask, Where ? If one man tells us 
 the Bible reveals this fact, and another says it does not 
 reveal it, what is to be done in this case? The simple 
 assertion of one man is as good as that of another ; both 
 are equally to be regarded as mere assertions, which in 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 77 
 
 the absence of proof must sink into nothingness. The 
 only proper method to pursue in this case, is, to go at 
 once to the Bible itself, and see how far the assertion is 
 borne out by the truths it reveals. We think we can 
 show that this fa,ct, as it is called, respecting three Divine 
 Persons in the Godhead, is nowhere declared or revealed 
 in the Bible ; and that this doctrine, popular as it is, is 
 entirely founded upon inference and assumption ; and if, 
 upon investigation, this assumption is found to be wrong 
 from beginning to end, the whole fabric built upon it 
 must necessarily fall to the ground. It is reasonable to 
 suppose that a correct knowledge of God is a matter of 
 the highest importance to the believer in Christianity; and 
 if it really be & fact that God exists in three Persons, is it 
 not reasonable to suppose that this fact would, at least, 
 have been mentioned once? — that it would have been 
 once directly stated in language that could not have been 
 mistaken ? We now speak of the fact, and not of the 
 mode ; for if the fact only had been revealed, then there 
 would have been a cause for our assenting to it, although 
 we did not comprehend the mode. But, upon examination 
 of the Sacred Scriptures, we find that they are wholly 
 silent as to the existence of this supposed fact; and where 
 thev are silent, it becomes us to be silent also. Now, we 
 hesitate not to declare that, from the first of Genesis to 
 the last of Revelation, there is not one single passage 
 which states that in the One God there are three distinct, 
 Divine Persons. The whole of this tripersonal doctrine 
 is built on assumption — on mere inference and conjecture, 
 without a single positive declaration of the Bible for its 
 support. But as regards the doctrine of the Divine Unity, 
 there is, as we have shown, no want of Scripture evidence. 
 Are we not warranted, therefore, in concluding that the 
 Lord our God, both in Essence and in Person, is infinitelv 
 
 ' I ml 
 
78 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 and eternally One? Are we not justified in saying that 
 the idea of three Divine Persons in the Godhead is not a 
 scriptural doctrine ? We proceed to a more particular 
 examination of some of those passages supposed to favor 
 this doctrine. 
 
 In the very first verse of the book of Genesis some 
 commentators imagine there is evidence of a Trinity of 
 Persons in the Godhead, because, in the original Hebrew, 
 Elohim (God) is said to have created the heavens and the 
 earth ; and this word, they contend, is a plural noun, and 
 has reference to the three Persons of the Trinity. To 
 this it may be answered that, though its termination im 
 is similar inform to many plural Hebrew words, yet it is 
 always singular in its meaning. Not fewer than two 
 thousand five hundred times the verbs and other parts of 
 speech dependent on the word Elohim, and which, accord- 
 ing to the laws of universal grammar, ought to agree 
 with it in number, are invariably in the singular number. 
 Besides, Elohim is often used in cases where the most 
 devoted advocate of three Persons in the Trinity must 
 allow that no trinity, nor even plurality, is referred to. 
 It cannot, therefore, be admitted that im forms the plural 
 of this word. Many other Hebrew nouns have this termi- 
 nation which are confessedly nouns singular: thus, Mit- 
 srayiM, Egypt; ShamayiM, heaven; paaniw. gnalpaaniM, 
 face to face; teraphiM, an image. The teraphui which 
 Michal prepared and put into the bed to represent David 
 was simply an image of a man — of one man, and no more. 
 The golden calf made for the apostate Israelites by Aaron, 
 which was certainly one single thing, is called the Elohim. 
 .Dagon, the idol of the Philistines, was named their Elo- 
 him, yet the image was one. Moses, who certainly was but 
 one person, was declared to be as Elohim before Pharaoh. 
 So that if the word Elohim has any reference to a trinity, 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 79 
 
 it could be to no other kind of trinity than that which ex- 
 isted in Moses, and which, moreover, exists in every indi- 
 vidual human being. But again : it is well known to our 
 hearers, many passages of the Old Testament are quoted 
 or referred to in the Gospel. As an example : " Hear, 
 Israel, the Lord thy Elohim [God] is one Lord." But 
 this is given by the Lord, and by the Evangelists writing 
 by inspiration from him, by the common Greek word for 
 God — Theos, which, like the corresponding word in Eng- 
 lish, is singular. The same is the case throughout the 
 Septuagint, or Greek version of the Old Testament, Elo- 
 him being everywhere rendered by Theos. Indeed, the 
 most accomplished masters of the Hebrew language — 
 many of whom were strongly attached to the tri-personal 
 doctrine, including the great reformer Calvin himself — 
 have allowed that it is futile to attempt to deduce the doc- 
 trine of three Persons in the Trinity from this word Elohim. 
 The scholastic definition of the word person is an indi- 
 vidual who is a thinking, rational, intelligent being. Ac- 
 cording to this definition, only three kinds of beings can 
 properly be called persons, — these are men, angels, God. 
 Applied to the first of these orders of beings, i.e. men, three 
 persons are three men. To the second, three persons are 
 three angels. Applied to God, what are three persons? 
 Are they not three Gods ? Is it not incomprehensibility 
 itself to say that three Divine Persons are but One God? 
 Well may they who maintain this proposition have recourse 
 to the plea of mystery, — well may they say human reason 
 is unable to understand it. But where is the sanction for 
 this plea in the Sacred Scriptures? Where is it declared 
 that the doctrine of a Trinity is incomprehensible ? 
 Where is it affirmed that the Trinity is a mystery? Pro- 
 duce one passage, and we will allow such persons to make 
 the mystery as mysterious as they please : but they can- 
 
80 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 not find for it a single text throughout the Bible. The 
 key to the Trinity of the Sacred Scriptures, however, will 
 shortly be shown to be in the declaration of man's being 
 created in the image and likeness of God. Again, v. 26, 
 "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our like- 
 ness." An eminent tri-personalist writer says, " This is 
 the substance of all that can be said on this text, — viz., it 
 is a Consultation of God the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost." We reply that consultations are held only 
 for one purpose, — that of getting a better idea of a sub- 
 ject by the parties laying their heads together than each 
 possessed separately : thus, a consultation of physicians 
 sometimes takes place usefully for such a purpose ; but we 
 know no reason why persons should consult together, 
 especially Divine persons, except, indeed, the common 
 principle that two heads are better than one. But how 
 could such a purpose be applicable to the One Infinite In- 
 telligent Being? 
 
 The word let is very improperly introduced into this 
 text, because there is no authority for it in the original. 
 The word translated let us make is in the first person 
 plural, We, — i.e., we will make man in our image. This 
 plural pronoun ought always, in Sacred Scripture, to be 
 interpreted with the idea of one single Divine Person in 
 the Godhead, — particularly if we consider it to refer to 
 the fact that the Divine attributes of love, wisdom, and 
 power were all exerted in the creation of man. Because 
 of this, the plural form, "we will make man in our 
 image," is used. It therefore follows, "so God created 
 man in hts own image." But to enter into a critical dis- 
 quisition on a point or points of Hebrew grammar would 
 be out of place here. We therefore come at once to the 
 text recorded in Matthew xxviii. 19: "Go ye therefore 
 and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
 
INTO TEE LIGHT. SI 
 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Here 
 the terms Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are supposed to 
 mean three distinct persons; but a little attention to our 
 Lord Jesus Christ's explanation of these terms will show 
 that no such distinct personalities are meant. In John 
 xiv. He speaks frequently of the Father, of Himself, and 
 of the Holy Spirit — the Spirit of Truth, which He calls 
 the Comforter; but He in no part makes the most distant 
 allusion to any plurality or distinction of Persons. In one 
 of his conversations with his disciples, Jesus says, "If ye 
 had known me, ye should have known my Father also ; 
 and from henceforth ye know Him aud have seen Him." 
 From this we find that a correct knowledge of Jesus Christ 
 is indispensable to a knowledge of the Father, and that 
 where the one is not obtained the other cannot be: "If 
 ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also." 
 Philip, in answer to these remarks of Jesus Christ, put to 
 Him a direct request, saying, " Lord, show us the Father, 
 and it sufficeth us." But what was our Lord's reply to 
 this? The request, and the Lord's reply to that request, 
 must be carefully considered; and if they are, the sup- 
 posed distinction of Persons in the Godhead will be dissi- 
 pated. Philip's request was, "Show us the Father." The 
 Lord's reply was, " Have I been so long time with you, 
 and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath 
 seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou, 
 then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am 
 in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that 
 I speak unto you /speak not of myself; but the Father that 
 dicelleth in me, He doeth the works." Is there anything 
 like plurality of Persons found in this reply ? Is not the 
 very reverse distinctly declared? Jesus Christ says, em- 
 phatically, the Father dweltelh in Him ; and, when speak- 
 ing of Himself and the Father, he says, /and the Father 
 
 8 
 
82 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 are One. In whatever sense the terms Father and Son 
 are to be understood, it is clear they do not denote distinc- 
 tion nor plurality of Persons; for if distinction and sepa- 
 ration be implied, how could the Father dwell in the Sou? 
 — how could the Father and the Son be One? But it may 
 be said, if Father and Son do not imply plurality of Per- 
 sons, what is the meaning of the terms ? This we will 
 explain presently. In the mean time, it is sufficient for 
 our purpose to show that no plurality of Persons is meant; 
 and if this be so, the doctrine of a Trinity of distinct Per- 
 sons, so far as this text is concerned, falls to the ground. 
 
 Another passage supposed to favor a Trinity of Persons 
 in God is this (Matthew iii. 16, 11) : "Jesus, when He was 
 baptized, went up straightway out of the water ; and, lo, 
 the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit 
 of God descending as a dove, and lighting upon Him: 
 and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved 
 Son, in whom 1 am well pleased. 77 This passage is thought 
 to establish completely the doctrine of a Trinity of three 
 Divine Persons ; but, whatever may be the inference drawn 
 from this testimony, it is very clear that no separate Per- 
 sons are mentioned. The voice from heaven is supposed 
 to be the voice of the Father ; admitting this, although 
 Jesus says of the Father, "Ye have never heard his voice 
 at any time, nor seen his shape, 17 yet, is that any proof of 
 distinct Persons ? Not the least ; for what did the voice say ? 
 — "This is my beloved Son, in whom /am well pleased. 7 ' 
 This is in agreement with what the Lord repeatedly de- 
 clares: "I am in the Father, and the Father in me: 
 the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works: 77 
 11 1 and the Father are one." With respect to the Holy 
 Ghost, or Spirit of God, it is supposed to be a distinct Per- 
 son from both the Father and the Son ; but the distinct 
 personality of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit, can never be 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 83 
 
 substantiated, because it is said, "Jesus breathed on his 
 disciples, and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." The words 
 in the original literally mean Holy Breath or Spirit; it 
 was this that influenced the apostles, — it was this which 
 the Lord required them to receive ; and as this Holy 
 Breath, or Spirit, or Influence, came from Jesus, and was 
 received by the disciples, we consider this as no small 
 proof of the Supreme Divinity of Jesus Christ, and that 
 in Him, as the apostle says, "dwelleth all the fullness 
 of the Godhead bodily." Does it not clearly appear, then, 
 from these scriptures, that nothing more than assump- 
 tion can be deduced for the tri-personal doctrine of the 
 Trinity? 
 
 Another passage from which the doctrine of a Trinity 
 of Divine Persons is sometimes attempted to be inferred, 
 is that we have chosen for our text, recorded in I. John v. 
 7, where it is thus written: "For there are three that 
 bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the 
 Holy Ghost: and these three are one." Many commen- 
 tators, and among others Dr. Adam Clarke, have declared 
 this to be a spurious passage; they say it was never 
 written by the apostle. We think there are good reasons 
 for believing the passage is not spurious, but that it was 
 really and originally written by John. Now, assuming 
 it to be genuine, in what way does it support a Trinity of 
 distinct Persons? There is nothing whatever said of Per- 
 sons; and the apparent distinction and separation close 
 in the perfect Unit, — " These three are one." If it be 
 asked, How are these three one ? we will not evade the 
 question by saying, " The fact only, and not the mode, is 
 revealed, and therefore we cannot tell ;" but we trust to 
 be able to show that the mode as well as the fact is the 
 subject of Revelation, and that both declare and set forth 
 the Unity of God, in Essence and in Person ; and yet that 
 
84 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 this doctrine does not militate against the true Bible doc- 
 trine of a Divine Trinity. 
 
 When we reflect that in no one instance do the Sacred 
 Scriptures declare a Trinity of Divine Persons, and that 
 they frequently announce that God is One in person, may 
 we not be allowed to say that the doctrine of three Per- 
 sons separate and distinct in the Godhead is a groundless 
 fallacy and contrary to the testimony of the Bible ? The 
 very idea of a Trinity of Persons is incompatible with 
 that of a Trinity in Unity. Unity can mean but one,— 
 one only. A Trinity, then, of three distinct ones cannot 
 be a Trinity in Unity ; it would be a Trinity in Una- 
 nimity, — a Trinity of three unanimous Gods acting in 
 unison with each other for the accomplishment of a cer- 
 tain end. This is the doctrine on this subject, with two 
 or three exceptions, of all the various denominations of 
 what are called Evangelical Christians; and perhaps there 
 is no doctrine that is more fatal to the true interests of 
 Christianity. It destroys in the soul the correct idea of 
 God, and fills the mind with confusion, mystery, and ab- 
 surdity. The doctrine of the Bible, the unerring Book 
 of Divine Revelation, respecting the Supreme object of 
 Worship, is that He is One. This is the foundation of all 
 true religion ; and the humble and sincere worship of this 
 Almighty One is the spring of all human joy, the source 
 of all spiritual wisdom, and the foundation of all our 
 hopes and expectations beyond this transitory scene of 
 mundane things. 
 
 We have seen, then, that God is One, in Essence and in 
 Person, and that the glorified Lord and Saviour, Jesus 
 Christ, is the True God and Eternal Life. We pro- 
 ceed to offer a few additional observations, illustrative of 
 the sacred doctrine of the Trinity as it is presented in the 
 Volume of Inspiration. In making these remarks, it will 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 85 
 
 be obvious to our hearers that no denial of a Trinity is 
 intended. The question we are discussing is not whether 
 the doctrine of a Trinity be true, but whether the Trinity 
 implies Trinity of Persons or a Trinity that is to be 
 viewed in some other light, — a Trinity of Divine Attri- 
 butes. So far as the word Trinity is concerned, the Uni- 
 tarians and their brethren, the Universalists, are very for- 
 ward to tell us that this word Trinity is not to be found 
 in the Bible. This is undeniably true ; but neither is the 
 phrase mere man, which they are so fond of applying to 
 Jesus Christ, to be found in that sacred book. It is not, 
 however, whether the word Trinity be found in the Bible, 
 but whether the doctrine conveyed under that term is to 
 be therein found ; this is the subject of our inquiry, and 
 this is what must be determined. The word Trinity 
 simply means three, — not three persons, but THREE ; 
 and a Trinity in Unity denotes a triune or threefold order 
 existing in one entire whole, both as to appearance and 
 form ; this is the kind of Trinity which exists in the 
 Divine Being, and it is properly named the Divine Trinity 
 in Unity. Every constituent of which this triune is com- 
 posed has a distinct name to designate its Divine quality 
 and use.; and in the New Testament these names are 
 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, — these are the three that 
 bear record in heaven ; these form the fullness and perfec- 
 tion of the One undivided, indivisible, infinite, and eternal 
 God. In this Lord God there are three Essential Attri- 
 butes : the Father is the Inmost Essential DIVIDE 
 SPIRIT, or Divine LOYE, in whom we live, arjd move, 
 and have our being ; the Son is the Infinite Human/ 
 Spirit, — the Great Wisdom of God, co-extensive with the 
 Father; and the Holy Spirit is the Divine Operating and 
 Sanctifying Spirit or emanated sphere of the Divine. 
 This Triune God is the Great First Cause of all created 
 
 8* 
 
86 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 life, — is that by which perpetual existence and subsistence 
 can alone be kept up. From this primary cause of all 
 existence we derive every blessing, temporal and eternal. 
 To this cause we can trace all the true joys, the heavenly 
 blessings, and the numerous phenomena of life ; the 
 plenty and fruitfulness of the earth; the very air we 
 breathe, and even the power of breathing it. He is the 
 life in all things, the very staff and support of all human 
 and angelic existence, and the bread of heaven. 
 
 We cannot fail to see that there is no word in human 
 language so well adapted to express the unlimited good- 
 ness of this Divine Being as that of Father. He is the 
 origin of our existence, the source to which we must all 
 look for support, the Father of us all, — Our Father in 
 the heavens. The Divine Wisdom, Logos, or Son, is the 
 proximate sphere of the Father or Divine Love, and the 
 Light and Glory of the Infinite. The Divine Logos, or 
 Word, is that by which the Lord God of Israel visited 
 and redeemed his people. The Lord, as the Divine Wis- 
 dom, manifested Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, 
 and therefore Jesus is called the Son of God, in whom 
 the Father dwells. When our hearers understand that by 
 the term Father is meant the Triune God with respect to 
 bis Divine Love, and that by the Son is meant the same 
 Being as to his Divine Attribute of Wisdom, and by the 
 Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, then wiil they perceive 
 the force and beauty of the expressions in the Gospel 
 where Jesus says, "If ye had known me, ye would have 
 known my Father also;" "The Father dwelleth in me;'' 
 u The Father, that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works ;" 
 "He that seeth me seeth the Father;" U I and the Father 
 are one." They will then also clearly understand the 
 declarations of the apostles relative to this subject, — "In 
 Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead 
 
IX TO THE LIGHT. 87 
 
 bodily ;" " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto 
 Himself ;" " Great is the mystery of Godliness, — God mani- 
 fest in the flesh;" "Of his fullness have we all re- 
 ceived, and grace for grace." All these will be seen in 
 their true light when it is known that the terms Father 
 and Son, when applied to God, denote the Love and Wis- 
 dom of the one undivided and Eternal God, just as Will 
 and Understanding, when applied to finite man, denote 
 one mind; or as soul and body constitute one person. 
 From these observations, it will be seen that the Trinity 
 of the Bible is not a Trinity of separate and distinct Per- 
 sons in God, but a Trinity of Essential Attributes as the 
 same are revealed to angels and to men. These attributes 
 are Love, Wisdom, and Sanctifying Operation, which, in 
 the corresponding language of the Sacred Scriptures, are 
 called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are the three 
 that bear record in heaven, and these three are One, be- 
 cause they form in the complex the fullness and perfection 
 of the One Infinite, undivided, and Eternal God. By this 
 view of the doctrine of the Trinity, all the passages of 
 the Sacred Scriptures relative to it may be understood, 
 — those in which the Lord speaks of his inferiority to 
 the Father, as well as those in which He speaks of his 
 equality and Oneness. Thus, when Jesus says, " My 
 Father is greater than 7," we are taught that Divine 
 Love, being the inmost of the Divine Nature (like soul in 
 man), is superior and comparatively greater than the 
 Divine Wisdom, in and by which the Love is ever mani- 
 fested and brought forth to light. Again, " The Son can 
 do nothing of Himself." This is most true. Neither can 
 the Father do anything of Himself; for Divine Love effects 
 nothing but by means of Divine Wisdom, and Divine 
 Wisdom of itself can effect nothing unless the Divine 
 Love, as its soul and energy, gives the power. By thus 
 
88 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 viewing the great doctrine of the Trinity in the light of 
 the Sacred Scriptures, as consisting of a threefold combi- 
 nation of Divine Attributes instead of Persons, the whole 
 of this supposed mysterious doctrine will be seen as in 
 the clearness of the light of a meridian sun ; we shall see 
 how the three are One, and realize the blessings of the 
 light of Life. Such is the Bible-Christian view of the 
 Divine Trinity; and, thus seen, the doctrine forms the 
 chief corner-stone in the Christian Church. 
 
 When this glorious truth shall be universally acknowl- 
 edged, then will the happy day have come when " the 
 knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters 
 cover the deep." " In that day there shall be One Lord, 
 and his name One." Amen. 
 
INTO TEE LIGIU. 89 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 THE BIBLE A DIVINE REVELATION. 
 
 John vi. 63. 
 
 When we speak of Revelation, we understand the 
 supernatural communication of certain spiritual informa- 
 tion, given by the Lord to mankind, which they could not 
 obtain by any of the common processes of the human un- 
 derstanding ; and, yet, with which it was important that 
 they should be acquainted. Still, when communicated, it 
 was in such a form and nature, that those among men dis- 
 posed to believe might see and comprehend it, while others 
 desiring to do so might find a plea for their disbelief. 
 Religion itself was produced by Revelation ; and man, as 
 a religious being, depends on Revelation for the princi- 
 ples of his faith and for his very existence. " Where 
 there is no vision, the people perish. " Revelation ap- 
 pears to have been given before the Scriptures which are 
 now extant were revealed. Of this, the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures themselves furnish the evidence : they plainly state 
 that it was coeval with the first men : " God called their 
 name Adam; 11 and there are many instances recorded in 
 which He spoke to them, and many precepts and laws 
 which He gave them. These Bevelations were to them 
 the Word of God. There seems to be a great misappre- 
 hension in the religious world, in modern times, on this 
 subject. It is a very general impression that a revelation 
 
90 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 implies a written communication of the Divine Will. But 
 the Divine communications imparted to men, when they 
 enjoyed communion with God, expressed by God's walk- 
 ing in the garden of Eden with them, were as much a 
 revelation to them as is the written Word of the Lord to 
 us. The state of mankind was indeed more perfect when 
 they could receive instruction by this intuitive revelation. 
 It was not until man had nearly closed his mind, through 
 sin, against the inflowing of intelligence and love from his 
 Creator, and had begun in a measure to destroy the per- 
 ceptive faculty in his soul, that a ivritten Word was given. 
 The state of men in the beginning was not such as to 
 require the Word in documentary form. Their minds and 
 hearts were clear and pure. They loved goodness with a 
 supreme delight, and the genius of love is to rule the whole 
 mind and bring its possessor into conjunction with the 
 object loved. The first written Revelation was probably 
 effected through the instrumentalitv of Enoch, who col- 
 lected the principles communicated to men in Paradise, 
 and arranged them in doctrinal form ; and this is referred 
 to in that remarkable passage which says, " He walked 
 with God; and was not; for God took him." By "his 
 walking with God," is denoted his co-operation with the 
 Divine Providence in the means by which revealed truth 
 was to be preserved; and by " he was not " is meant 
 that nothing of his mind as an individual, or his character 
 as a man, was in the principles of the Divine truths so 
 collected, because " God took him," i.e. took him under 
 his special guidance and directed him in the performance 
 of the work. The name Enoch means to instruct or in- 
 itiate. Ancient tradition represents him as the first, author. 
 Visions and prophecies are ascribed to him, which he is 
 said to have arranged into a book. The Arabians call him 
 Edris, — i.e. the learned. The Evangelist Jude, also, evi- 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 91 
 
 dently regards him as a prophetical teacher; v. 14, he 
 says, "Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied 
 of these, saying, ' Behold, the Lord cometh, with ten thou- 
 sand of his saints.' " Other scriptures are also mentioned 
 in the Bible as having been given to men, under the title 
 of the " Wars of Jehovah," " The Book of Jasher," etc., 
 which are now lost. When the state of the human mind 
 sank so low that those former Revelations ceased to have 
 the beneficent and instructive effect of a Revelation to them, 
 God, in his Infinite Mercy, condescended to speak to 
 Moses and the Prophets, and through them to bestow on 
 mankind that Revelation which w r e now possess in the 
 pages of the Bible. 
 
 Had not the Lord given a written revelation of Himself, 
 man, in his downward course, would have lost all knowl- 
 edge of a Supreme Being. We read that even Abraham, 
 at the period of his call, had so far lost a correct knowl- 
 edge of the true God as to have become an idolater ; Joshua 
 reminded the Israelites of this in his last charge to that 
 people, and said, " Your fathers dwelt on the other side of 
 the flood in old time, even Terah the father of Abraham, 
 and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods." 
 And when Jehovah, the God of Israel, made Himself known 
 to Abraham, it was by the title Shaddai, Almighty, a 
 name by w T hich one of his idols was called, and not by his 
 name as known in the Adamic or Noachic ages. "I ap- 
 peared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," said the Lord to 
 Moses, "by the name of El Shaddai, God Almighty, but 
 by my name Jehovah was I not known to them." So, 
 again, the Israelites, during their continuance in Egypt, 
 very generally lost the knowledge of the name, the nature, 
 and the very existence of the true God ; this is plain from 
 the circumstance that when God appeared to Moses, and 
 commissioned him to bring the Israelites out of their 
 
92 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 captivity unto the promised land, 3foses replied, " Behold, 
 when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say 
 unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you ; 
 and they shall say unto me, What is his name? what 
 shall I say unto them?" The same principle holds good 
 everywhere, and in all ages. In the heathen world, where 
 the Word of God is not known, scarcely any idea, and cer- 
 tainly no correct idea, of the Lord exists; and what little 
 knowledge is still preserved there, obscure, gross, and sen- 
 sual as it is, is the faint glimmering of a revelation proba- 
 bly once known there, and handed down by tradition for 
 a time, but now lost. It is obvious, then, as our hearers 
 will perceive, that one of the great objects of a Revelation 
 is to impart to mankind a correct knowledge of God, and, 
 therefore, the whole of the Inspired Scriptures revolve on 
 this subject. That this is the case is clear from the Lord 
 Jesus Christ's declaration to the lawyer, that on the two 
 great commandments — " Hear, Israel, the Lord our God 
 is one Lord ; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,' 
 and with all thy strength ; and thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bor as thyself' — hang all the law and the prophets. The 
 testimony of the Apostle Paul, too, is that the all-absorb- 
 ing theme of revelation is the development of the existence 
 of God, his nature, attributes, and character. In his 
 Epistle to the Corinthians he teaches that the Word of the 
 Lord consists of the letter and the spirit, and he declares 
 the Lord is that spirit (viz., the spirit of the Word of God), 
 and then he adds that " we all with open face behold [in 
 the Word~\, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord." This 
 truth will appear in a still more impressive light, when it 
 is further seen that the whole of the Scriptures point 
 especially to the great visible manifestation of God in the 
 glorified person of Jesus Christ : " Search the Scrip- 
 
' INTO THE LIGHT. 93 
 
 tures, for in them .ye think ye have eternal life ; and they 
 are they that testify of ME ;" " The testimony of Jesus 
 is the spirit of prophecy " Thus, then, it is evident that 
 both the Sacred Scriptures and enlightened reason concur 
 in testifying- to the necessity and existence of a Revelation, 
 in order that man may thereby learn to know, to love, and 
 to worship and adore the true God, and through love to 
 Him, and obedience to his revealed precepts, attain to the 
 high destination for which he was created. It is no longer 
 a question, therefore, whether a Revelation exists, since 
 without it man could not be man ; but the question is 
 whether the Bible, which claims to be a Revelation from 
 God, is really so. This leads to the important inquiry, 
 What is the character of a Revelation ? and in what do its 
 sanctity and its divinity consist ? 
 
 In regard to the sanctity and divinity of the inspired 
 writings, and in what that sanctity and divinity consist, 
 the words of our text plainly declare, " The words that 
 I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." This 
 Divine declaration extends not only to the words spoken 
 by Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New Testament, but 
 likewise to what is written in the Old, since both Testa- 
 ments are acknowledged to be alike the Word or Speech of 
 the Most High, and consequently both must be alike 
 replenished with the same Divine principles, called by our 
 Redeemer " Spirit and Life." The important question, 
 then, is, What are these principles, and in what do 
 they consist ? What is this Spirit, and what this Life, 
 which constitute the very soul and essence of every 
 Word of God ? But who can give a serious and satis- 
 factory answer to this question without being forcibly 
 impressed with the mental conviction that when a Divine 
 Speaker declares, "The words that I speak are spirit, and 
 are life/' He must of necessity mean by the terms spirit 
 
 9 
 
94 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 and life a Divine spirit and a Divine life? because it is im- 
 possible to suppose that any other spirit and life, except 
 what is Divine, can influence the words of a Divine 
 Speaker, so as to constitute their essential properties. 
 Who can give a serious and satisfactory answer to these 
 questions without being mentally impressed as forcibly 
 with another conviction, that the terms spirit and life, 
 when applied by a Divine Speaker, involve in them dis- 
 tinct Divine principles, so that spirit is to be understood as 
 expressive of one Divine principle, and life as expressive 
 of another? if not so, the two terms would be a useless 
 tautology, altogether unworthy of a Divine Speaker! 
 Who, again, cannot discern, as by a mid-day light, that 
 spirit and life, according to their distinct signification, 
 and as distinctly applied by a Divine Speaker, must of 
 necessity mean the same things as Divine Wisdom and 
 Divine Love, since we are assured the Godhead is both, — 
 " God is Love, God is Light, 17 — and may, therefore, be 
 called the Divine union of both in their infinitv and eter- 
 nity ? The conclusion, then, at which we arrive is that 
 every part of the revealed Word, both of the Old and the 
 New Testament, is filled with the Divine Wisdom and 
 with the Divine Love of the Lord our God, in indis- 
 soluble union, this being its very inmost soul and hidden 
 essence, whilst the letter — i.e. its history, its prophecy, 
 its poetry and parables — is its external body and mani- 
 fested existence. From these considerations, our hearers 
 may clearly perceive the sanctity and divinity of the In- 
 spired Writings, and in what that sanctity and divinity 
 consist. 
 
 But, in pursuing this inquiry, it may be well to define 
 a little more distinctly what the Word of God is. In the 
 language of the Bible, it is called " The Wisdom of God. 77 
 " Therefore also said The Wisdom of God, I will send 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 95 
 
 them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall 
 slay and persecute." (Luke xi. 49.) It thus appears that 
 the Word of God is the Infinite Wisdom of God, brought 
 down and accommodated to the perceptions of finite beings. 
 That it is Divine, follows as a natural inference from its 
 origin; for whatever proceeds immediately from God must 
 possess that character. It is the dictated Word, or speech, 
 of God. Now, in all speech, whether human or Divine, 
 there must be three distinct principles ; for without these 
 there can be no speech. These are affection, thought, and 
 expression. Speech, therefore, is nothing but the outward 
 manifestation or outward expression of the affection and 
 the thought of the speaker ; it is a kind of embodying 
 of those principles for the purpose of imparting them to 
 others. Thus, when a man speaks, he, as it were, em- 
 bodies his affections and thoughts in such language as 
 is best adapted to convey them to the understandings of 
 those with whom he is speaking. So, likewise, when the 
 Almighty speaks, He, too, embodies his Divine Affection 
 and Thought, or, in other words, his Divine Love and 
 Wisdom, in such language as is best adapted to convey 
 those Divine principles to the apprehension of his crea- 
 tures, whether to angels in heaven or to men upon earth ; 
 and such speech or Word is given for their spiritual and 
 everlasting instruction in righteousness and true holiness. 
 This view of the subject is in harmony with what Jesus 
 Christ said, when speaking to his followers, in the lan- 
 guage of our text: "The words that I speak unto you, they 
 are spirit, and they are life;" for by spirit is evidently to 
 be understood his Divine Wisdom, or what He in another 
 place calls " the spirit of Truth;" and by Life is as 
 plainly meant his Divine Love, since this alone is prop- 
 erly life itself. Accordingly, in every part of the Sacred 
 Scriptures, this union of Divine Goodness and Truth, or 
 
96 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 of the Love and Wisdom of God, is observable by the 
 spiritually-minded, even in and through its literal ex- 
 pressions. Not only does rational investigation conduct 
 us to this point, but the Scriptures also affirm the 
 same thing. As it respects the Divine expression, it 
 appears, by what the Lord says by his prophet (Hosea 
 xii. 10), that He has always spoken by a peculiar lan- 
 guage, or mode of expression. He there says, "I have 
 spoken by the prophets, I have multiplied visions, I have- 
 used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets :" thus 
 informing us that the language by which the Lord spake 
 by u the ministry of the prophets " was that of similitudes, 
 analogy, symbol, figure, or correspondence. This language 
 of analogy is expressive of the relationship of created 
 things to each other, and of all to their Great First Cause. 
 That all things in creation have relation to God is 
 evident from the fact that all things have their origin in 
 Him, and that they were created to carry out or express 
 the purposes of his Divine Love and Wisdom, and, as 
 means, must necessarily have relation to the end for 
 which they were created ; hence his Works in nature are 
 often called the elder Scriptures. That all things have 
 relation to each other is too obvious to be denied. It is 
 strikingly exhibited throughout all creation. We see it in 
 the relationship which the mineral kingdom bears to the 
 vegetable, and through the vegetable to the animal ; while 
 all external objects have relation to man. No one will 
 surely suppose that the Word of God is beneath the at- 
 tention of his creatures, however exalted their intelli- 
 gence may be, or that the wisdom of angels is superior 
 to the wisdom of God as revealed in his Word. Angels, 
 although existing in a higher sphere, are but "the spirits 
 of just men made perfect" Can we imagine, then, that 
 angelic beings derive no instruction from the infinite wis- 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 97 
 
 dom of the Almighty, as manifested in the revelations He 
 has given in his Holy Word? The Scriptures testify that 
 the Word of the Lord is in heaven : " Forever, Lord, 
 thy Word is settled in the heavens. " That the Word in 
 the New Testament is there also, is attested by John the 
 Revelator: he says, "I saw another angel, having the 
 everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the 
 earth." Why should the Word be forever settled in the 
 heavens, and the everlasting Gospel be there too, if not 
 as a means of instruction to the heavenlv inhabitants? 
 If it should be objected that the angels had the Gospel to 
 preach to those that dwell on the earth, this rather confirms 
 than militates against our position ; for that which is the 
 subject of any one's preaching must be the subject of his 
 meditation and of his devout study. 
 
 Indeed, the true interpretation of the Gospel must, 
 through the disposition or ministry of angels, come to us, 
 for it was "an angel" who had "the everlasting Gospel 
 to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth." 
 
 The language, then, in which the Word of God is written 
 is founded on that relation and mutual dependence which 
 are universal both in the spiritual and the natural world. 
 No other style of expression could serve as a universal 
 medium to communicate the infinite and ineffable wisdom of 
 God to finite intelligences so as to adapt it to the peculiar 
 degree and state of relationship of each of his finite crea- 
 tures to Himself; and no one save the Infinite could really 
 employ this language, — because nothing short of Divine 
 Wisdom can embrace and comprehend these relationships 
 in all their infinitude. Every Divine truth proceeding 
 from the Lord descends, as it were, through the heavens 
 to men on earth. Such, also, is the nature of the Word of 
 the Lord. In its inmost sense it is heavenly ; in its inte- 
 
98 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 rior sense it is spiritual; in its last or lowest sense it is 
 natural, and, to us, in that sense in its fullness and efficacy. 
 
 From what we have said respecting the character of 
 the Word, it will naturally be expected that the views of 
 Bible- Christians respecting the nature of Inspiration differ 
 in some degree from those generally current. It is popu- 
 larly believed that the writers of the Scriptures were in- 
 spired ; but beyond this all is vague and obscure. The 
 divinity and sanctity of the Sacred Scriptures do not con- 
 sist in their having been given through inspired men, but 
 because they themselves, as well as those through whose 
 instrumentality they were revealed, were inspired. 
 
 Inspiration, as the term implies, is an in-breathing : 
 the inspiration of the inspired writers consisting in this, 
 that " holy men of old wrote" as the in-breathed Spirit of 
 the Lord, or rather as the Lord by his Spirit, dictated to 
 them. Thus the inspiration of the Word consists in its 
 being inspired with God Himself, who is as much present 
 in its truths as He was in the Israelitish Tabernacle. He 
 as really speaks in the Word now as when He spake it of 
 old by the prophets ; and the precepts of the Gospel are 
 as fully inspired with the vital Spirit of the Lord at this 
 day — and will be to eternity — as they were when they 
 fell fresh from the lips of the Saviour. He now speaks 
 also to those who are without — i.e. to those whose ideas 
 of the Bible are altogether natural — in parables; whilst 
 to those who follow Him into the sanctuary of truth "it is 
 given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven." 
 The evidences of the Lord's presence in his Word abound 
 in almost every portion of the Sacred History. Whence 
 had the ark of the testimony its miraculous power ? 
 Why was it that at its presence the waters of the Jor- 
 dan receded ? Why fell the walls of Jericho before it ? 
 And why was Dagon, the idol of the Philistines, cast 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 99 
 
 down ? It was because the Lord, by his Divine Com- 
 mandments, was present there. But in what did his 
 presence reside? Could it be exclusively inclosed in a 
 space two cubits and a half in length and one cubit and a 
 half in breadth and the same in height? By no means. 
 God is Infinite; He was present in the living truths in- 
 scribed by his own direction on the two tables of stone, 
 and on which, we are told, hang all the law and the 
 prophets. It is the very sanctuary of God, in which He 
 can be present w T ith the minds of all his intelligent crea- 
 tures, — with angels in heaven by its interior or spiritual 
 truths, and with the members of his Church universal on 
 earth by its literal expressions ; through this He also 
 leads man, so far as he is capable and willing to be led, 
 into a perception of its spirit and life ; and it is from this 
 interior spirit and life that it is divinely inspired in every 
 syllable. The letter of the Sacred Scriptures contains 
 within it all the spiritual truths which had been revealed 
 to men before the period of its commencement and present 
 form ; it is also the continent of other principles, of which 
 it is the only exponent. The literal sense of the Bible is 
 the ultimate form of all Revelation, — a form suited to the 
 wants of the ultimate condition into which the fall has 
 brought mankind. In this form of Divine Revelation all 
 Divine, heavenly, and spiritual truth is, in its fullness, its 
 sanctity, and its power. By this man has consociation 
 with angels above, and by this he attains conjunction with 
 his Father in the heavens ; and every doctrine of the 
 Church, to be truly instructive, must be drawn from the 
 literal sense of the Word and confirmed by its testimony. 
 From what has beeu advanced, we trust it will be seen 
 that the Word of God, like the heavenly ladder seen in 
 vision by the patriarch, rests on the earth and reaches to 
 heaven, — nay, even to the throne of God. Through the 
 
100 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 Word, heaven and the future world are opened to us ; by 
 it angels are present with us, and heavenly influences are 
 brought down to the sincere and devout worshiper in all 
 our Sabbath assemblies, in our sacramental elements, and 
 at our family altars ; and our prayers and devotions, like 
 incense, are borne up, as in angels' hands, to their heavenly 
 abodes, where their aspirations mingle with ours, and 
 thence ascend to the Only Wise God, our Saviour, — The 
 Word that was God, The Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour 
 of men. Amen, 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 101 
 
 DISCOURSE Y. 
 
 ON CREATION. 
 
 Genesis i. 1. 
 
 The connection between science and religion has ever 
 been a subject of deep interest to enlightened and reflect- 
 ing minds. Yet, often has the theologian, on the one 
 hand, looked with jealousy upon science, as if fearful that 
 its influence might be hurtful to the cause of true religion ; 
 while, on the other hand, the man of science, in the pride 
 of a skeptical spirit, has scorned the idea of an alliance 
 between science and theology. Both these opinions are 
 erroneous; and they have operated disastrously as well 
 upon science as upon religion. The position we take as 
 Bible-Christians is, that scientific truth, rightly under- 
 stood, is religions truth ; and that religious or Bible truth, 
 rightly interpreted, is ever in union and harmony with the 
 truths of science. 
 
 The subject of the creation of the world is one on which 
 both theologians and philosophers have written largely ; 
 and in many cases their opinions are as different, as far 
 from harmony, and as wide of the genuine testimony of 
 either Creation or Revelation, as are the poles of the 
 globe. They have erred, either on the one hand, "through 
 not knowing the Scriptures," or on the other, through 
 the delusive luminosity of their own imaginary and self- 
 derived intelligence. 
 
102 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 The theologian denies the scientific facts of Geology, 
 because it refers the origin of the earth to a higher 
 antiquity than, he says, is assigned to it by the Mosaic 
 account of creation ; and he considers that this theory un- 
 dermines our faith in the inspiration of the Bible, and in 
 all the animating prospects of the immortality which it 
 unfolds. Here, however, the theologian is obviously wrong, 
 because the writings of Moses do not fix the antiquity of 
 the globe, nor make any such allusion to it.* 
 
 It is not, however, our purpose to enter into any con- 
 troversy relative to the age of the earth, or the successive 
 changes it may have undergone previous to the creation 
 of mankind. Our purpose is rather to see the order and 
 origin of Creation, and to demonstrate the operation of 
 an Infinite Intelligence in the production of the world and 
 all its parts; and to show that the Creator of the uni- 
 verse is at the same time the Creator, the Redeemer, and the 
 Regenerator or re-creator of man. A careful study of the 
 most ancient portions of Divine Revelation will evidently 
 demonstrate that the Almighty from the beginning selected 
 a peculiar and symbolic mode of communicating his will 
 to mankind; doubtless because He saw it would convey 
 most effectually the clearest spiritual ideas in relation to 
 his own Essence and operations, and be most powerfully 
 adapted to man's mental faculties. The Sacred Scripture, 
 or Word of God, therefore, employs the terms by which 
 physical objects are expressed, to communicate ideas re- 
 specting metaphysical or spiritual existences. The chief 
 object of Scripture, however, in the employment of one 
 class of natural things is not, as some have supposed, to 
 
 * The putting dates to the Bible, in regard to the era of crea- 
 tion, and thus making the present age of our globe about six thou- 
 sand years, is altogether gratuitous, conjectural, and arbitrary. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT, 103 
 
 signify another class of natural things ; but objects exist- 
 ing in material creation are selected to symbolize objects 
 of a spiritual nature. The spiritual, in the works of the 
 Creator, can only be indicated by means of natural or 
 material existences ; and it is only as we view the Scrip- 
 tures in this light that we are enabled to apprehend the 
 first principles to which they point, and so to compre- 
 hend their real import or meaning. One of the first prin- 
 ciples unfolded in the text recorded at the commencement 
 of Divine Revelation, is, that "the heaven and the earth 
 were created." This is an idea not found in any other 
 ancient writings. Among the Egyptians, Greeks, and 
 numerous other heathen nations, the earth was either 
 represented as eternal, or it was said that matter was 
 eternal, and that by some kind of fortuitous operation the 
 particles of eternal matter were so brought together as to 
 form the solid earth. The Bible, however, informs us, 
 " the heaven and the earth were created," had a begin- 
 ning, and that their creator w 7 as God. How sublime and 
 important is this first truth of Revelation ! The proper 
 mode of viewing the subject of Creation is to regard it 
 as an oatbirlh of the Divine mind, — as a production 
 essentially distinct from the producing cause, — but yet, 
 bearing, through all its parts, to that Infinite Producer 
 and to the infinite essential attributes and properties 
 existing in Him, a constant and an immutable relation. 
 This shows the fallacy of the heathen notion that the 
 world is eternal, — self-produced and self-formed, and the 
 source of all things ; and it manifestly evinces the ab- 
 surdity of another notion, prevalent even among pro- 
 fessors of religion, that God formed the universe out of 
 nothing. But to create this world out of nothing is an 
 absolute impossibility. Nothing is nothing ; out of 
 nothing, nothing can be produced. Nothing is not any- 
 
104 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 thing; and that which is not anything, cannot become 
 anything, can have no possible existence. But some may 
 be ready to say in support of this nothing hypothesis, 
 God is Omnipotent, and He can do all things. He is 
 Omnipotent, but He can do nothing inconsistent with his 
 own Divine order and nature. 
 
 He cannot do anything that is really sinful ;* and thus, 
 also, in a number of instances, God cannot do this or that, 
 although Omnipotent. He cannot act in opposition to his 
 own Infinite Wisdom and Goodness. 
 
 The question then arises, Whence came matter ? It 
 could not be created from nothing; it is not eternal; 
 what then can it be but an oatbirth, a creation, or forma- 
 tion, from the Divine Creator? God created matter from 
 Himself. It cannot be made from nothing. Behold the 
 vastness, the boundlessness of Creation, — contemplate the 
 immense number of stars, and suns, and worlds, scattered 
 throughout the universe, — the wonderful works of the 
 Omnipotent hand of the Lord ; formed of different ele- 
 ments, and furnished with an indefinite variety of ob- 
 jects of various forms, natures, and uses, — look at the 
 immensity and magnificence of the universe, and then 
 say, if you can, that all these vast orbs, and suns, and 
 worlds, and beings were once nothing — that out of 
 nothing they w r ere all produced! How inconsistent! 
 Nothing always was nothing, and nothing will it always 
 remain. 
 
 But, again, Whence came matter? Swedenborg, the 
 celebrated philosopher and enlightened theologian, informs 
 us, " There are two suns, by which all things were 
 created from and by the Lord, — the sun of the Spiritual 
 
 * He doeth all things well: his perfections render wrong-doing 
 impossible for Him. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 105 
 
 world, and the sun of the natural world. The sun of the 
 spiritual world, from which all things issue as from their 
 fountain, is the first of all substance in intense activity, 
 proceeding from the Lord God, who is in the midst of it. 
 That sun itself is not God, but is from God, and is the 
 proximate or primary sphere from Him. It is the first 
 proceeding of the Divine Love and Wisdom. The sun of 
 the natural world is pure (elementary) fire, and is created 
 and produced (through intervening circles of atmospheres) 
 from the spiritual sun. From this spiritual sun, as a 
 great centre, proceed circles, or atmospheres, around it, 
 one after another, even to the last, and where their end is, 
 subsiding in rest: these circles are spiritual atmospheres, 
 which the light and heat from that sun fill, and by which 
 they propagate themselves to the very ultimate circle ; 
 and in that last, by means of the preceding atmospheres, 
 and afterwards by means of the natural sun and its at- 
 mospheres which are emanated from it, the creation of the 
 earth was effected. 
 
 " That substances or matters like those on the earth were 
 produced from the sun by its atmospheres, is affirmed by 
 all those who think that there are perpetual intermedia- 
 tions from the first to the last ; and that nothing can 
 exist,'but from a prior self, and at length from the First : 
 and the First is the sun of the spiritual world; and the 
 First of that sun is the Lord. 
 
 "Now, as the atmospheres are the prior things by which 
 the sun presents itself in ultimates, and these continually 
 decrease in activity and expansion to ultimates (or last), 
 it follows that when their activity and expansion c#ase 
 in ultimates, they become substances inert, like those on 
 the earth. In the substances of which the earth consists, 
 there is, indeed, nothing of the Divine in Itself, for they 
 are deprived of all that, being the ends or terminations of 
 
 10 
 
106 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 the atmospheres, whose heat has ended in cold, whose 
 light ends in darkness and their activity in inertness; but 
 still, the j have brought with them, by continuation from 
 the spiritual sun, that which was there from the Divine, 
 viz., a sphere from the Lord ; from which, by continuation 
 from the (natural) sun, proceeded, by means of the at- 
 mospheres, the substances of which the earth consists." 
 
 Thus, according to this philosophy, the proper mode of 
 viewing the creation is to regard it as an oulbirth from 
 the Great Creator, yet as essentially distinct from the 
 Great Producing Cause. 
 
 In the Gospel it is recorded, "The Word was with God, 
 and the Word was God ; all things were made by Him." 
 Paul further says, " The things which are seen were not 
 made of things which do appear." All things that exist, 
 in heaven, in the universe, and on earth, exist from the 
 infinite love and wisdom of the Lord : these are the only 
 essence and source of all things. These form the Divine 
 and ever-living sun of heaven, giving heat and light to all 
 its glorious and happy inhabitants. This Divine sun is, as 
 we have already stated, the proximate sphere of the 
 Lord's glory, beaming forth its heat and light to the im- 
 mense and boundless worlds above ; — every beam of whose 
 heat is Divine Love, and every ray of whose light is Divine 
 Wisdom. From this sun of heaven spiritual atmospheres 
 are produced, within which angels and the spirits of the 
 just and good live; and from this sun, with its spiritual 
 atmospheres, — which are no other than the divinely 
 emanated sphere of the Lord, proceeding from his essen- 
 tial love and wisdom, surrounding, filling, and blessing all 
 the heavens with their countless happy inhabitants, — 
 from this sun and its spiritual atmospheres all things in 
 the spiritual worlds are produced, formed, and have their 
 existence ; and from the same source or sphere, proceeding 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. X07 
 
 farther and farther, as it were, from the great spiritual 
 and Divine centre, the natural sun is produced and formed 
 as a body of pure elementary fire, the vitality of which is 
 that spiritual sphere or creative principle by which it was 
 produced, and from which it has its perpetual existence. 
 From this natural sun, vivified by a spiritual power from 
 the Lord, and thence made active, natural atmospheres are 
 formed, which in their proceeding become more and more 
 dense and inert, and ultimately form earths and material 
 worlds such as exist iu our solar system, derived from 
 the sun, and mediately supported by it. In our natural 
 sun, in the atmospheres, iu the earth, and, indeed, in all 
 nature, there. is a certain spiritual principle of life and 
 activity, from the Lord, which is their inmost) life, and 
 without which they could not exist one moment Thus, the 
 world was made by the Word of the Lord, — his wisdom 
 proceeding from his Divine love, forming the sun of the 
 spiritual world, the primary sphere of his unutterable 
 glory; from this, spiritual atmospheres, as the living sub- 
 stance of all substances, "the wheels or circles within 
 wheels" of the prophet; thence the sun, the universe, 
 worlds and earths were created, exist, and will endure 
 forever. 
 
 But although the things which constitute and form this 
 natural world are from the Lord only, they are, never- 
 theless, not the Lord. This may, perhaps, be illustrated 
 and made still plainer from the consideration of the fact 
 that there is a certain sphere exhaling from and surround- 
 ing every human being, and likewise all animal and vege- 
 table existences ; this sphere, in many instances, is pal- 
 pable to our bodily senses. Such a sphere emanates from 
 every man, yet it is not the man; when passed from him, 
 it is void of his life ; and it no otherwise makes one with 
 the man, than in that it accords with him, being produced 
 
108 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 from the peculiarities of his bodily organization, which 
 are the forms of his life, or ruling affection. Thus, in the 
 substances and materials of which the world consists, 
 there is nothing of the Lord in them, although they are 
 from the Lord ; they are devoid of all that is Divine, being 
 the ends or terminations t)f the spiritual atmospheres pro- 
 ceeding from the sun of heaven, in which is the Lord, 
 and becoming ultimated through the natural sun and its 
 atmospheres. And though the heat of those spheres has 
 terminated in cold, their light in darkness, and their act- 
 ivity in inertness, there is nevertheless a certain degree 
 of heat, light, and activity in and encompassing them 
 from the Lord, according to his own Divine order in the 
 creation of the universe. 
 
 Among the objects of the visible portions of creation, 
 man, the acknowledged image of his Maker, stands in the 
 highest degree of relationship to Him, and the inert sub- 
 stances of the mineral or inorganic kingdom in the lowest. 
 This truth is not invalidated by the fact that this latter, 
 according to Geology, came first into existence. It must 
 be true that, in the creation of the world, the globe of 
 earth and water, or the unorganized parts of its compo- 
 sition, though lowest in rank, must have been the first 
 that were formed; for this reason, because their uses were 
 indispensable to the higher order of existences, to afford 
 them nutriment and a basis. Then, doubtless, the vege- 
 table kingdom succeeded ; because, without both these, 
 animals could not exist. Thus, the higher orders of 
 creatures must have appeared by degrees, and last of all 
 man ; as he could not begin to exist* till everything neces- 
 sary for his use was provided. Still, it was for the sake 
 of man that all inferior things were produced: man was 
 in the Divine mind throughout the whole process : thus 
 everything produced was an image of something that was 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 109 
 
 to exist in him, and the spiritual and moral essences of 
 all inferior things were concentrated in him ; as he him- 
 self was to be an image of the Creator, in whom alone 
 exist, in their first principles and Divine essences, all the 
 powers, faculties, and virtues which were to exist deriva- 
 tively in mankind. The Great Creator, in the work of 
 creation, cannot be considered as operating at random, 
 producing things which have not in Himself their Divine 
 prototypes or germs of being. To produce such things the 
 Creator must step out of Himself, which is impossible. As 
 the tabernacle, with everjnhing in it which Moses was 
 instructed to make, was to be made after the pattern or 
 antitype shown to him in the mount, or was to be an out- 
 ward type of such things as exist in heaven, so, no doubt, 
 when the Lord created heaven and earth, with their 
 respective inhabitants, He formed everything after the 
 image of Divine prototypes existing in Himself, — after the 
 pattern of the ineffable attributes and perfections which 
 exist only in his own Divine essence. Thus the whole 
 universe, instead of being, as it is sometimes inconsider- 
 ately regarded, a production of mere caprice, without 
 order, and little better than the offspring of blind chance, 
 was unquestionably what may most expressively be 
 called an Outbirth of the Divine mind; and, as such, it 
 must bear in all its parts an immutable relation to the 
 attributes or essential properties which belong to the 
 nature of the Omnipotent Creator. 
 
 And now, Christian friends, we trust you will see some- 
 thing of the order according to which Worlds were created 
 and formed, from and by the Lord, as the one only source 
 and substance of all things ; and this in the most im- 
 pressive and beautiful light, more especially if you will 
 elevate your minds to the Lord our God, whose essence is 
 Divine Love and Wisdom ; the inexpressible glory of which 
 
 10* 
 
110 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 forms the sun of heaven, — the sun of righteousness, — with 
 its pure heat and light, — the spheres and atmospheres of 
 which heavenly sun the angels and good spirits inhabit; 
 and whose spheres, proceeding farther, and becoming more 
 dense, produce and form all the substances and materials 
 of which suns and worlds are composed ; the spiritual 
 power and influence from the Lord giving them respect- 
 ively their activity, life, and perpetual existence, and that, 
 too, in the most perfect harmony and order, through all 
 the varied revolutions of time. 
 
 Our observations have been concise, but, we hope, suffi- 
 ciently full to satisfy you that the world is not eternal ; that 
 it was not created out of nothing ; — an idea of the grossest 
 kind, for out of nothing not anything can possibly come. 
 
 We have endeavored to show that the Lord Himself is 
 the alone Creator of all worlds and all beings, — the only 
 essence and substance from which all things are ; and we 
 may add that creation is perpetual. Our intelligent hear- 
 ers will admit that there are, besides our world, suns and 
 worlds innumerable scattered throughout the universe. 
 The Creator is Infinite; the sun of heaven, or the proxi- 
 mate sphere of his love and wisdom, is forever the same, 
 forever operating. His creative wisdom and power, there- 
 fore, are forever given forth in the same way, according 
 to the order we have briefly described, creating and form- 
 ing suns, and worlds, and beings in every variety, in 
 agreement with his own infinite love and mercy ; that by 
 such means He may perpetually elevate and draw towards 
 Himself rational, sentient, and immortal beings, to enjoy 
 his love and favor, to be happy in his presence, and dwell 
 everlastingly in his own immense and immeasurable 
 heavens, which can never be filled through all the bound- 
 less ages of eternity. 
 
 Let this view of creation sink deep into your minds, 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. \\\ 
 
 then, beloved, viz., that in wisdom, love, and power, the 
 Lord is the creator of all worlds, — that " In the beginning 
 He created the heavens and the earth.' 7 Reflect, with 
 the deepest humility, the sincerest gratitude, and the most 
 ardent affection, that He has created our world, and worlds 
 on worlds, and that He will unceasingly create, with this 
 most benevolent design, that all we, and countless millions 
 like ourselves, should be the recipients of his wisdom and 
 rejoice in his love ; and that, after a short existence of trial 
 and tribulation in a material world, we may be prepared 
 for an elevation into the fullness of heavenly love and light, 
 of peace and joy, of felicity and glory in the heavenly man- 
 sions of the Lord our God, — in the bosom of his infinite 
 goodness, and in that kingdom where we shall forever 
 live as heavenly angels, perfect in blessedness. And 
 while you are contemplating the wonders of the Lord's 
 creative power, remember also the Bible testimony in 
 regard to his redeeming love, his saving mercy, and his 
 divinely benevolent design in all these operations to 
 make you angels of his kingdom. Improve, therefore, 
 your brief earthly existence; it will soon end, — we know 
 not how soon : shun every known evil, and labor to insure 
 the Divine approbation by a life of faith, of love, and of 
 obedience to the principles of the Everlasting Gospel : 
 elevate your thoughts and affections, your understand- 
 ings and hearts, towards heaven, while mercy spares you 
 time and opportunity so to do, and while truth points to 
 you the way to a glorious immortality : then, that Great 
 and only Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour of men, who 
 created the heaven and the earth in the beginning, will 
 raise your spiritual bodies from this primary state to his 
 own eternal kingdom; will constitute you angels there, and 
 make you perfectly happy in his love and in his glorious 
 presence forever. Amen, 
 
112 OUT OF THE CLOUDS 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 ON THE ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN. 
 Genesis i. 
 
 In our last monthly discourse, we endeavored to aid our 
 hearers in attaining an apprehension and understanding of 
 the Bible testimony regarding Creation, and more particu- 
 larly the creation of the world in which we are placed. 
 We purpose this morning directing your attention to 
 another department of the creative power, and operation 
 of the Great Creator of all things in heaven and on earth, as 
 the narrative is recorded in the chapter we have just read. 
 
 In order correctly to understand the written documents 
 of antiquity, it is necessary to know something of the 
 genius of the people among whom, or respecting whom, 
 those documents were produced. Without such informa- 
 tion, we should be liable to great mistakes. It is known 
 that very different styles of writing have prevailed among 
 the same nations, at different periods of their existence ; 
 and the deeper we penetrate into their mental history, the 
 less of what is literal, and the more of parable, of analogy, 
 or of poetry, shall we find to have been in their methods 
 of expression. This fact is not to be disregarded in prose- 
 cuting our inquiry into the original state of man now be- 
 fore us. It bears forcibly on the subject. To us it seems 
 evident that the Lord, in causing a Revelation to be made 
 to mankind of spiritual wisdom and heavenly goodness, 
 
INTO ' THE LI OH T. 1 1 3 
 
 has at all times had respect to the peculiar genius, tem- 
 perament, and leading disposition of the people to whom 
 such revelation was vouchsafed. This is clear from what 
 are called the Jewish Scriptures. The letter of the Reve- 
 lation relating to that people, and of which they were 
 made the depositaries, was constructed in the historical 
 style in which we find it, in consequence of the remarkable 
 mental condition of that singular people, who, as a nation, 
 were most external and sensual. Of spiritual things, 
 beyond their national rites and religious ceremonies, they 
 had generally but little conception ; and because of these 
 characteristics, the Revelation, which, in its external form, 
 is peculiarly theirs, partook of that historical and worldly 
 appearance by which we see it is distinguished. If, then, 
 it be true that the literal style of Revelation has always 
 assumed a form in conformity with the genius of the peo- 
 ple to whom it was first made, — if it be true that the most 
 external style of Revelation to be found in the Bible was 
 adopted in consequence of the external and sensual condi- 
 tion of the Jewish people, to whom it was first committed, 
 — then it will follow that the Revelation granted to & prior 
 and mentally superior people could not have been of so 
 external a character. If the genius of the people among 
 whom the early portions of the book of Genesis were pro- 
 duced was eminently heavenly, and if the narratives are 
 constructed in conformity with such a character, then the 
 literal sense of that Revelation ought to be differently 
 understood from that given to the descendants of Abram. 
 It would be contrary to all just criticism to suppose that 
 the literal form of the Revelation granted to a people who 
 were acquainted with heavenly subjects and were influ- 
 enced by spiritual principles, was the same as that given 
 to a community who, generally speaking, were utterly 
 ignorant of such things. It is admitted there is a pecu- 
 
114 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 liarity in several of the first chapters of the book of Gene- 
 sis, produced among a people who lived long before the 
 time of Abram ; and there is much reason to believe that 
 they were revealed in those periods which poets and 
 philosophers have spoken of as the Golden Age, — an age 
 in which an Oriental people were intelligent on heavenly 
 subjects, because they studied interior and spiritual truths, 
 and were acquainted with those things among the outer 
 existences in nature which were the symbols of such 
 truths; an age in which mankind would speak of heavenly 
 subjects by means of those objects they knew to be their 
 symbols or emblems in the world of nature. 
 
 The minds of mankind, during the purity of the Adamic 
 periods, were influenced by very interior, elevated, and 
 heavenly sentiments : the affections of their wills were , 
 doubtless, directed towards the Lord their Creator, and 
 their understandings were enlightened by thoughts con- 
 cerning Him and his kingdom. In such an intellectual 
 condition, nature, to them, must have been a sort of mir- 
 ror, reflecting internal and heavenly ideas. Such minds 
 would regard the things of the world by which they were 
 surrounded as the symbols of some mental state, — some 
 spiritual experience, or heavenly truths, belonging to the 
 Lord's kingdom in their souls. This mental state would, 
 indeed, enable them to "look through nature up to nature's 
 God," and to behold in all its objects the expressive types 
 of heavenly realities. To such minds, Creation must have 
 afforded a rich display, — a sort of photographic exhibition 
 of objects mirroring forth interior and heavenly principles 
 relating to the Creator and his kingdom. 
 
 With regard to the Creation and original state of man, 
 Revelation informs us that, according to original creation, 
 he was distinguished by an internal and an external 
 nature; that he was endowed with immortality, and that 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 115 
 
 he was placed in a state of responsibility. But what may 
 we suppose were his mental and his moral possessions ? 
 We can scarcely think of his being created with the expe- 
 rience and information which mental exertions and moral 
 qualities would seem to imply. His original condition, in 
 these respects, could have differed but little, we imagine, 
 from those states into which men have since been born. 
 He must have been ignorant, but innocent; still, possess- 
 ing all the capabilities for having developed the loftiest 
 perceptions of wisdom and the holiest principles of love. 
 The state which has attended the beginning of man in all 
 ages may have been designed to inform us what his con- 
 dition was when first originated. Of the process by which 
 this was accomplished we have no specific Revelation ; 
 but we are told something of the mental characteristics 
 that first belonged to man. " The earth " is said to have 
 been " without form, and void," to denote that, as to his 
 external nature, he was destitute of the order which arises 
 from enlightened teaching, and void of that living excel- 
 lency which springs out of active goodness. " Darkness " 
 also is said to have been " upon the face of the deep," for 
 the purpose of declaring to us the ignorance which then 
 prevailed upon the perceptive capabilities of the human 
 mind. 
 
 Thus it appears that mankind, by original creation, did 
 not intuitively possess either the knowledge or the love 
 of Divine things. This destitution did not, however, arise 
 from the voluntary rejection of those excellencies, as has 
 been the case with mankind in after-ages ; but because, 
 as yet, they had not been communicated. Man's original 
 state, therefore, must have been one of passive innocence 
 and mental docility. He was gifted with capacities that 
 were afterwards to be developed, and by the cultivation of 
 which it was intended that he should attain to the love of 
 
116 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 his God above all things, and of his neighbor as himself. 
 He was created perfect in the degree of his primeval exist- 
 ence, but not with the actual possession of those high 
 qualifications in which his mental faculties could result. 
 The degree was a faculty to become great, but was not 
 greatness itself It is this peculiarity which distinguishes 
 man from the beast. The beasts were at once endowed 
 with all that they were capable of, and so at once were 
 beasts ; but man was created with capacities or faculties 
 only, to the end that by their proper use and education he 
 might knowingly progress in all that is wise and good, 
 and so be a man. The perfection of the beast, therefore, 
 is its imperfection ; while the deficiencies of man become 
 the groundwork of his eminence. How long mankind 
 continued in this primeval state there is no historic in- 
 formation, nor is it necessary for us to know how long 
 or how short was its duration. 
 
 We have stated that the spiritual creation of the human 
 principles, or mental capabilities of religious life and ac- 
 tions, is treated of in this chapter under the symbolic 
 language of a natural creation. The narrative teaches us 
 not only the order by which, from being " void" and dark, 
 man was successively filled with spiritual principles and 
 gifted with intellectual light, but it records a fact which 
 distinguished him as an early inhabitant of our world. 
 He was actually raised into that spiritual and celestial 
 eminence so beautifully and forcibly expressed by being 
 made in the image and likeness of God. And now, in 
 what sense are we to view this man? Is Adam to be 
 considered merely as an individual, or is the term to be 
 regarded as comprehending a community ? We maintain 
 that the latter, and not the former, is the true idea con- 
 nected with this problem ; and we believe this idea to be 
 clearly recognized in the very expression Adam (mankind), 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 117 
 
 as well as in general statements. Although this part of 
 the Bible testimony is probably more allegorical than lit- 
 eral in its meaning, yet its language and intimations are 
 constructed on the idea of the existence of society, and 
 may fairly be referred to as affording evidence upon this 
 question, which may be received as important, especially 
 by those who insist upon the literal sense as expressing 
 all that is meant. There are several circumstances so 
 mentioned as to imply the existence of human society 
 apart or distinct from that of Adam or his posterity. 
 When, according to the common reading of these narra- 
 tives, there were only three inhabitants of the earth, we 
 find that Cain, after the fratricide he had committed on 
 Abel, said, " My punishment is greater than I can bear; 
 and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me 
 shall slay me." A mark also was set upon him, " lest any 
 one finding him should kill him." These statements evi- 
 dently imply the existence of society. Why should Cain 
 fear every one that found him, if there had been none to 
 find him but his parents? Of what use could have been 
 the mark set upon him, if there had been but Adam and 
 Eve, his father and mother, to see it, and be warned by 
 it? They must have known him without such a sign. 
 These circumstances show not only that society then ex- 
 isted, but also that such society was in a state of civiliza- 
 tion so elevated as to be influenced by a moral sentiment 
 that could reject and condemn a murderer's crime. But 
 there is another fact, equally strong, bearing upon this 
 point. When Cain went into the land of Nod, he is said 
 to have taken a wife, and built a city, which he named 
 after his first-born son, Enoch. 
 
 If there had not been society, where could Cain have 
 obtained his wife ? Where could he have procured the 
 workmen necessary for such erections as are implied in the 
 
 11 
 
118 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 building of a city ? Moreover, of what use could have 
 been such a city if there had been no society to inhabit it ? 
 From these facts it is legitimately to be inferred that a 
 people were at that time in existence for whom no rela- 
 tionship can be traced to Adam and Eve, and of w 7 hose 
 origin we have no history. It clearly teaches that the 
 doctrine, popular as it unquestionably now is, that the 
 human family is all from that one pair, is not sustained, — 
 nay, is absolutely without foundation in the Word of God; 
 and we may be permitted to add that science demonstrates 
 the utter fallacy of such an idea. 
 
 Now, if there were such a people in no way related to 
 Adam, — and of this, after what has been said, we are per- 
 suaded there can be no w r ell-founded doubt, — why may not 
 the term Adam, w T hich Gesenius and other learned Hebrew 
 scholars do not consider as the proper name of the first 
 man, but as an appellative referring to the race, and mean- 
 ing mankind,— why may not this term Adam mean and 
 indicate the existence of a community, an association or a 
 Church that had been gradually separated and gathered 
 from the general mass of human society, and had asso- 
 ciated themselves under those virtues, graces, and excel- 
 lencies of character which we have said distinguished the 
 people of the Golden Age ? That which is apparently 
 predicable of an individual may with equal propriety be 
 said of a number of persons; and therefore the narratives 
 relating to Adam, instead of being the personal history of 
 one man, may be the ecclesiastical or spiritual history of 
 a highly cultivated people constituting a Church ; and be- 
 cause it is the oldest of which we have any record, it may 
 wiih propriety be called the Host Ancient, or the Adamic 
 Church. There is surely nothing irrational in this view of 
 the matter. But some of our hearers may perhaps feel 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 119 
 
 disposed to say, Is there not some more distinct proof of 
 sucb an idea ? We think there is ; and that, as we have 
 already intimated, it is to be found in the Word itself. 
 When the Lord said, "Let us make man," the proposition 
 could not refer to the individual, but to the human race. 
 Man, or the Hebrew word Adam, is put for mankind, and 
 so it is to be taken as expressing that wider sense : this is 
 evident, for it is immediately added, " and let them have 
 dominion." But the original word, translated man, is 
 Adam, and this is thus distinctly asserted to have a col- 
 lective signification, for it is written that the Lord " called 
 their name Adam in the day when they were created. ' ' 
 Both male and female are here specifically meant ; and 
 there are many other instances in the Scriptures where 
 the term Adam is used in the sense of mankind, or the 
 human race in general. And that this is its true import, 
 is evident from the circumstance of its never being found 
 in the plural form, though there is no grammatical difficulty 
 in the way of its being declined by the dual &nd,plural ter- 
 minations and the pronominal suffixes. The term Adam 
 occurs in the second and third chapters of Genesis no less 
 than nineteen times, and in every case it is put with the 
 definite article. As then the word Adam is not the actual 
 appellation of an individual, but a nominal, expressive of 
 the kind or race, it will follow that the term Adam or the 
 man in those Scriptures must be received as describing 
 the people, the community, the society, the Church, or 
 whatever other word may be thought more fitting to 
 express the idea of a human association possessing the 
 solid acquirements of a genuinely spiritual and heavenly 
 religion. 
 
 From what has been said, our hearers will understand 
 that while the first chapter of Genesis appears to describe 
 
120 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 the creation of the world, it also spiritually describes the 
 creation and original state of man, and his successive pro- 
 gress through the varied conditions of being, until he at- 
 tained to the image and likeness of his God ; that is, until 
 his understanding became so far receptive of the wisdom 
 of his Creator, and his will the recipient of the love and 
 purity of the Lord, as to be an image and likeness of the 
 Divine Perfections. On account of this receptibility of the 
 love and wisdom of the Lord, and of a spiritual and 
 heavenly life in obedience to such an influence, he was 
 called Adam, or man. We are not men from our mere 
 external form. Shakspeare says, " All are not men who 
 wear the human forin." But we are men because we pos- 
 sess that which no other created beings possess. Beasts 
 have no powers above what has been called instinct ; but 
 man has mental faculties, — he has a will and an under- 
 standing, he has capabilities of affection and science, — 
 reason, intelligence, and wisdom: these constitute his 
 manhood. The successive developments of character, de- 
 scribed in our chapter as Adam, were the progressive 
 advancements or regenerations of the original human 
 community of a whole people, who lived in some exceed- 
 ingly remote period of the past, and who, from the supe- 
 riority of their character, their highly cultivated and inno- 
 cent minds, constituted what we prefer to call a Church, — 
 the Adamic or most Ancient Church, because it is the 
 earliest of which we have any revealed or authentic 
 records. It will thus be understood that we are men 
 because of our mental capabilities. Our moral and in- 
 tellectual faculties are bestowed on us, not that we 
 may eat and drink as mere animals do, but the grand 
 prerogative of our manhood — of those noble capabilities 
 and faculties which are spiritual and immortal powers — is 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 121 
 
 that we can rise above the things of time and sense ; we 
 can direct our minds to the great Creator, — the GRAND 
 MAN of the Universe, from whom we become men in the 
 degree that we receive his love, his wisdom, and his life, 
 and are thus transformed into images and likenesses of the 
 Lord our God, — prepared by a process of regeneration to 
 live eternally in his kingdom, as happy and glorious angels. 
 Amen. 
 
 11* 
 
122 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 ON THE POPULAR DOCTRINE OP ORIGINAL SIN. 
 Ezekiel xviii. 2. 
 
 a What mean ye that ye use this proverb, saying, that 
 the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth 
 are set on edge?" 
 
 If the maxim be true, that " The proper study of man- 
 kind is man," it is surely a matter of importance that we 
 should endeavor to know the real situation of man on his 
 becoming an inhabitant of the world, and what are the 
 responsibilities resting upon him. It is well known that 
 the doctrine of original sin is very generally taught as a 
 leading principle in the system of Christianity, and that it is 
 popularly admitted as a Bible truth ; but it does not neces- 
 sarily follow, because this doctrine has gained an almost 
 universal popularity, that it is therefore " the pure milk of the 
 Gospel;" for it is equally well known that many doctrines, 
 both in religion and philosophy, have been propagated and 
 for a time generally admitted as true, which, on a closer 
 investigation and a more mature consideration, have been 
 discarded as mere phantoms of imagination, and as the 
 production of error. Hence a fair and rational inquiry into 
 the doctrine of Original Sin is a duty of vast importance ; 
 for upon the truth or falsehood of this doctrine will de- 
 pend most of our religious exertions, as well as much of 
 the nature of our intercourse with the world around us. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT 123 
 
 In speaking to our hearers on this interesting subject, we 
 will first state this doctrine as it is commonly taught and 
 generally received, and then proceed to demonstrate its 
 utter destitution of truth, and that it has no foundation in 
 the religion of the Bible. The generally received doc- 
 trine of original sin maintains that Adam, as the first 
 man, " was the moral principle of mankind. In the first 
 treaty between God and man, Aflam was considered, not 
 as a single person, but as the representative of the future 
 human family, and contracted for all his descendants by 
 ordinary generation; his person was the fountain of theirs, 
 and his will the representative of theirs. Hence his vast 
 progeny became a party in the covenant, and had a title 
 to the benefits contained in it, upon his obedience ; and was 
 liable to the curse, with all its fatal consequences, upon 
 his violation of it." This is the foundation of the doctrine; 
 and hence, as Adam was the confederal head of the whole 
 human race, his disobedience and sin do not remain with 
 him only, but are imputed to all mankind ; all the families 
 of the earth have suffered for the folly and transgression of 
 one, and, consequently, the curse denounced on Adam, for 
 his single act of folly, is effective on the whole of his pos- 
 terity. By the single act of one, all mankind are declared 
 to be sinners, and deserving of the wrath and damnation 
 of God. The Augsburg Confession of Faith, from which 
 all the leading doctrines of the Reformed Church are 
 drawn, says, also, concerning Original Siii, " Since the 
 fall of Adam, all men are born in sin, which brings dam- 
 nation and eternal death upon those who are not regener- 
 ated, and that the merit of Christ is the only means whereby 
 they are regenerated, — the only remedy by which they are 
 restored. That original sin is such a total corruption of 
 nature, that there is no spiritual soundness in the powers 
 of man, either as to his soul or body : that in spiritual 
 
124 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 and Divine things which regard salvation, he is like the 
 pillar of salt into which Lot's wife was turned, and like 
 a stock or a stone, without life, which have neither the use 
 of eyes, mouth, nor any of the senses." Such is the doc- 
 trine respecting original sin, as set forth in this orthodox 
 and curious work we have referred to, and from which we 
 have quoted ; and who can read or hear its sentiments 
 without being deeply impressed with horror at its bold 
 and presumptuous clauses ? If its teachings be true, the 
 Sacred Scriptures, which were given — and mercifully 
 given — after the fall of man, to be his rule of life, and 
 for his guide to restoration and immortality, can be of 
 no manner of use to him. The Scriptures contain the 
 strongest and most powerful appeals to the hearts and 
 understandings of men that can be imagined ; but where 
 is the wisdom of addressing such powerful appeals to 
 " pillars of salt" ? Of what avail can sympathy, clothed 
 in the most impressive language, be, when directed to 
 senseless " stocks and stones"? Why should the Lord 
 speak to mankind, who are said to be so dreadfully de- 
 praved, so wretchedly polluted at the very core, as to be 
 compared to things without life, having neither the use of 
 "eyes, mouth, nor any of the senses"? No folly, in our 
 estimation, can be compared to this infatuated supposi- 
 tion. If man, in regard to spiritual things, be really 
 dead, — a mere " stock, stone, or pillar of salt," — so sense- 
 less that he can neither move, speak, nor understand, to 
 what purpose are all the beautiful and energetic exhorta- 
 tions of Divine Revelation made, and to whom are they 
 addressed ? Can it be supposed that the Lord, who is in- 
 finitely wise, would require the creatures of his hand, as we 
 all are, to do such and such things, when He knows that we 
 have no power to do them ? And will this infinitely wise 
 God punish us for disobedience, when He knows we have 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 125 
 
 not the least power to obey ? To teach this doctrine is not 
 only dishonorable to God, and prejudicial to mankind, but, 
 as Bible-Christians conceive, fatally and desperately wicked. 
 And yet, in regard to original sin, the doctrine is deemed 
 evangelical orthodoxy. When we are all earnestly called 
 on in the Bible to do the work of Repentance, and " put 
 away the evil of" our " doings," upon the theory of the 
 doctrine of original sin, might we not say, We cannot 
 "put away the evil of" our "doings," we cannot do the 
 work of Repentance, we are " pillars of salt," devoid of 
 all ability to repent? When the Lord says, "Come unto 
 me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
 give you rest," we might, with great propriety, say, We 
 cannot come, for we have no power ; we are " stocks and 
 stones." "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your 
 God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto 
 her that her warfare is accomplished." We cannot speak, 
 for we have no mouth. " Come hither, and hear the words 
 of the Lord your God." We cannot come, for we have no 
 power ; we cannot hear, for we have no ears. " Look unto 
 me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, 
 and there is none else." We cannot look, for we have no 
 eyes. " Come, now, and let us reason together, saith the 
 Lord." We cannot reason, for we have no understanding. 
 Now, if the doctrine of original sin were true, might not 
 such answers as these, with great propriety and reason- 
 ableness, be given to these and all other invitations of 
 Scripture ? How can we do, come, look, hear, speak, or 
 reason without possessing the needful faculties, and the 
 power of using them ? It would be altogether impossible. 
 But we do possess these faculties; by the possession of 
 these and other mental powers, we, as human beings, are 
 distinguished among the various existences which sur- 
 round us, and we are endowed with the power of using 
 
126 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 them ; our very existence and all our actions in life prove 
 the fact, and it is in vain for the transgressor to attempt 
 to plead a palliation for his life of iniquity, under the idea 
 that the lamentable effects of original sin have deprived 
 him of all power of doing good, and of co-operating with 
 the Lord in the important work of the salvation of his soul. 
 
 But here it may not be inappropriate to ascertain and 
 define what sin is; for, unless we know what is to be 
 understood hj the term, we may come to very erroneous 
 conclusions in regard to it. We may be permitted to say, 
 then, that where there is no reason there is no liability to 
 sin; nor can any one, compelled by an irresistible power or 
 by a sort of fatal necessity to the performance of certain 
 actions, thereby commit sin ; for if the action be bad and 
 sinful, the sin does not lie in the agent, but in that ir- 
 resistible power which compelled, the agent having no 
 control over the action. 
 
 It is generally admitted, by all professing Christians, 
 that man, mentally considered, is composed of Will and 
 Understanding : these two are so united as to make up 
 the entire and perfect man. These constitute his man- 
 hood. The Will is the seat of all the affections, motives, 
 propensities, and desires, and may be said to form his love 
 and his life ; the Understanding is the seat of all his 
 thoughts, perceptions, and intellectual properties, and con- 
 stitutes his rationality, judgment, and power of discrimi- 
 nation. No work or action of an individual can be sinful 
 unless produced by the joint exertion of both will and un- 
 derstanding ; the will prompting to the commission, and 
 the understanding examining into the nature of the sug- 
 gested action before it is executed. The evil desires and 
 propensities of the will are constantly endeavoring to 
 break forth into open acts of violence; but the under- 
 standing is a restraining power \ given to guard and pro- 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 127 
 
 tect man from the dangers and snares into which the 
 vitiated desires of his will would lead him ; and while 
 the understanding continues to exercise its power of judg- 
 ment and discrimination, in its true and proper order, 
 under the principles of conscientiousness, no sin can be 
 committed. " Sin," says an apostle, " is the transgression 
 of" (a known) "law." We must make a careful distinc- 
 tion between evils and sins : they are entirely different, 
 and if they be carefully denned, distinguished, and ac- 
 knowledged, we shall be convinced of the impossibility 
 of " man being born in sin." The term evil, as used in 
 the Bible/ refers to the vitiated desires and propensities of 
 the will; but sin relates to a corrupt state of the under- 
 standing, in permitting the evil propensities of the will to 
 break forth into actions contrary to the dictates of truth 
 and to conscientiousness or justice. Since the fall, man is 
 born into the world with evil desires, propensities to evil, 
 and with impure inclinations, and these are hereditary, 
 that is, are communicated from parents to children ; but 
 these are not sins, neither do they condemn before the 
 Lord. They have not yet passed the understanding, re- 
 ceived its sanction, nor been made the individual's own, 
 by the actual commission of crimes contrary to truth and 
 conscientiousness marked out by the understanding. 
 
 Bible-Christians, therefore, maintain that no man is 
 born in sin. He is born with hereditary propensities to 
 evil, derived from a more or less corrupt ancestry; but 
 these do not become sins until his rationality or under- 
 standing is formed, and he then brings those hereditary 
 evils into actual life and practice ; then they are his own, 
 then he is a sinner, and then he is accountable. If it be 
 still contended that man is born in sin, and if it be also 
 true that without repentance sin cannot be forgiven, and 
 if it be likewise true, what our Lord savs, "If ve die in 
 
128 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 your sins, whither I go ye cannot come,'' what, then, be- 
 comes of that vast portion of the human family which 
 dies in a state of infancy ? It is of no use to evade this 
 question by saying we cannot tell, because we can tell, 
 and the inference is certain : for if man is born in sin, and 
 he dies before he is in a state capable of doing the work 
 of repentance, which is the case with all infants, then we 
 are forced into the conclusion, however shocking, that all 
 who die in infancy are consigned to the dark regions of 
 misery and woe. Such a doctrine would surely be one of 
 the blackest that ever emanated from the dark and direful 
 regions of the bottomless pit. What said our Lord on this 
 subject, when He took the dear children in his arms and 
 blessed them, saying, "Of such is the kingdom of God"? 
 The great doctrine of Bible-Christians in regard to this is, 
 that of all the families of the earth those who die in a state 
 of infancy, of whatever religion or country, whether the 
 offspring of pious or of impious parents, are initiated imme- 
 diately, through the instrumentality of angels, into all the 
 delights of heavenly joy and angelic wisdom. 
 
 But we will now turn to the testimony of Scripture. 
 Perhaps there is no passage in the whole Bible which 
 appears to be more favorable to the doctrine of Original 
 Sin than this, " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in 
 sin did my mother conceive me." This passage is brought 
 in on all occasions to prove the doctrine, and* upon this it 
 is thought to rest. Bible-Christians want no stronger tes- 
 timony than this passage in proof that man is not bom in 
 sin. Who can discover from it, that man is born in sin ? 
 It is not even remotely declared : the terms iniquity and 
 sin are not applied to the child which is here said to be 
 shapen and conceived, but to the mother. Thus the pass- 
 age says, " Behold, I was shapen" — In what? " in iniquity," 
 "and in sin did my mother" — What did she do in sin? 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 129 
 
 " conceive me." Thus the literal and obvious meaning of 
 this passage is, that the mother was iniquitous when the 
 child was shapen, and sinful when the child was con- 
 ceived. The terms iniquity and sin do not apply to the 
 child at all y but only to the spiritual condition of the 
 mother. 
 
 It is a little remarkable that the doctrine of Original 
 Sin should be so strenuously insisted on, when there is 
 not one single text in the Bible which says or teaches that 
 the sin of Adam is communicated to his posterity. It is 
 true the Apostle Paul says, " By one man sin entered 
 into the world, and death by sin," but here is no mention 
 of an actual transferring of the identical sin of Adam 
 to his offspring. All that is said we readily admit, viz., 
 that by the disobedience of one man sin entered into the 
 world ; for disobedience is the cause of sin, and those who 
 follow in the path of disobedience become sinners equally 
 with their forefathers, and are, consequently, subject to like 
 penalties. Those who maintain the doctrine of Original 
 Sin, and suppose that the sin of Adam is transferred to 
 his posterity, agree readily with the old proverb we have 
 selected for our text, " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, 
 and the children's teeth are set on edge." But if we turn 
 to this chapter, Ezekiel xviii., and examine it carefully, we 
 shall find that the Lord, instead of approving, condemns 
 the proverb, and, in language that cannot well be mistaken, 
 points out the erroneousness of Original Sin, Upon this 
 doctrine the prophet writes thus : " The word of the Lord 
 came unto me, saying, What mean ye that ye use this 
 proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers 
 have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on 
 edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, behold all souls are 
 mine ; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son 
 is mine : the soul that sinneth, it shall die." Here we find 
 
 12 
 
130 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 no mention of the imputation of the sin of one man to 
 another, but it is plainly declared that " the soul that sin- 
 neth shall die." The very reverse of the doctrine of Original 
 Sin is inculcated ; for the prophet, in describing the wicked 
 man, says, " Now, lo ! if he beget a son that seeth all his 
 father's sins which he hath done, and considereth and 
 doeth not such like, he shall not die for the iniquity of 
 his father, he shall surely live." Again the Lord saith, 
 " The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not 
 bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father 
 bear the iniquity of the son." How plain is this language 
 of the Bible I How clearly is it affirmed that no actual 
 sin or transgression of one man can be imputed or trans- 
 ferred to another ! Every man's condemnation depends 
 upon his own actual sin, — upon his own voluntary and 
 internal state and life. 
 
 That man is not born in sin is further obvious from the 
 Gospel. We there read, " As Jesus passed by, he saw a 
 man who was blind from his birth, and the disciples asked 
 him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, 
 that he was born blind ?" Our Lord answered their ques- 
 tion in a way that totally overthrows the notion of original 
 sin. He says, " Neither hath this man sinned, .nor his 
 parents ; but that the works of God should be made mani- 
 fest in him." And the works of God were literally mani- 
 fested in him, by the miraculous bestowing of sight. But 
 an appeal is made to the decalogue in support of Original 
 Sin. It is there said that the Lord " will visit the iniquities 
 of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth 
 generation." But this in reality gives no sanction nor sup- 
 port to the doctrine: it is one thing to visit the iniquities of 
 the fathers upon the children, but another to punish the chil- 
 dren for the sins of the fathers. The visitation implies the 
 power by which the sinful father communicates to his chil- 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 131 
 
 dren those evil propensities and impure inclinations which 
 reside in the will, — the will of the flesh, — but which never 
 do become sins until the understandings of the offspring 
 are formed and they bring them into life and practice, in 
 opposition to their better judgment and to the known dic- 
 tates of truth and conscience : then they become the sins 
 of the offspring, and condemnation follows as the neces- 
 sary effect of such actual transgression. But this visita- 
 tion of the fathers upon the children is not said to be 
 made upon all mankind, but only upon a particular class 
 of persons, that is, upon those that hate the Lord : u Visit- 
 ing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the 
 third and fourth generation of them that hate me ;" but 
 mercy is to be shown to the thousands of those who love 
 the Lord and keep his commandments. 
 
 And now, beloved, may we not conclude that the popu- 
 lar doctrine of Original Sin, as commonly taught and be- 
 lieved, is a vile error, dishonorable to the goodness and 
 love of the Lord our God, whose " tender mercies are over 
 all his works 7 ' ? Have we not good reason to conclude 
 it has no foundation in the Bible ? Let us turn from the 
 dark picture, and listen to the voice of the Lord Himself, 
 by his prophet : " Wash you, make you clean : put away 
 the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to 
 do evil ; learn to do well : then, though your sins be as 
 scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be 
 red like crimson, they shall be as wool." These invita- 
 tions are not made to " pillars of salt," nor to stocks and 
 stones, but to men, — to all mankind, — to rational and in- 
 telligent beings, capable of understanding the invitations, 
 and of co-operating with the Lord in the great work of 
 their salvation. 
 
 The Bible teaches that if we turn our souls to the 
 Lord, and remember that " The soul that sinneth, it shall 
 
132 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 die," — if we strive to do his Holy Will, and rely upon his 
 power and goodness, which will accompany us through all 
 our days,— if we cease to do evil, and learn to do well, 
 then will the Sun of Righteousness gild our declining days 
 with mental peace and heavenly tranquillity; and when 
 time shall remove us, the voice of our Heavenly Father 
 shall gladden each of our joyous souls with, " Well done, 
 thou good and faithful servant ; enter thou into the joy of 
 thy Lord," Amen, 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 133 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 ON THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND ITS TREES. 
 
 Genesis ii. 8, 9. 
 
 In our lecture on the Original State of Man, we en- 
 deavored to convince our hearers that the idea so preva- 
 lent among religious professors respecting the unity of the 
 race, or the whole human family being descendants from 
 Adam and Eve, was not sustained by science, nor even by 
 the Bible itself when correctly interpreted. We showed 
 that the term Adam w T as not the name of an individual, 
 the first created man, but a generic term denoting man- 
 kind ; and that as used in the book of Genesis it is ex- 
 pressive of a religious community, or the first true Church 
 among men on earth. The language of our text to all 
 appearance describes the first natural garden, — a garden 
 that was the result of the Creator's planting ; there are 
 also some intimations of its geographical situation, and 
 the adjacent features ; but instead of this being the in- 
 struction that the text is intended to convey to us, if we 
 examine it and other portions of the early chapters of 
 Genesis we shall have strong evidence for believing they 
 treat of the most Ancient Church, or that our text in par- 
 ticular treats of the state of religion among living men, 
 and is not to be considered as descriptive of the mere 
 vegetable productions of the insensible earth. All that is 
 revealed with regard to this first or Adamic Church is 
 
 12* 
 
134 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 presented to us in the language of poetry rather than of 
 history: still, it is a Divine poetry in an historical form. 
 There are many acknowledged instances in which Jesus 
 Christ has presented spiritual principles to the considera- 
 tion of his disciples under the appearance and character 
 of fictitious history. His parables are remarkable in- 
 stances of this fact. Many, notwithstanding, have believed 
 that the beginning of Genesis was real, literal history ; 
 that the earth and all the vegetable and animal existences 
 were produced in the order and time mentioned ; that there 
 was a real earthly garden or paradise, created and formed 
 purposely for two individuals to occupy, and in which they 
 dwelt till the time when they partook of the forbidden 
 fruit ; that this garden was a spot of peculiar beauty and 
 of delightful productions, and in every respect was a local- 
 ity superior to every other part of the then known world. 
 Many have devoted much time in seeking to discover such 
 traces of its existence as would enable them to say pre- 
 cisely where, or in what particular part of the globe, this 
 garden was placed ; but all their study and researches 
 have amounted to no more than uncertain conjecture, and 
 where the locality of the Garden of Eden was is, literally 
 speaking, wholly unknown to the learned. But had those 
 persons considered the word of God in its primary and 
 true light, — as a book revealing to mankind religious, 
 spiritual, and Divine principles, — they would have thought 
 less about an earthly garden, embellished with shrubs and 
 flowers and fruit-bearing trees, and have given themselves 
 less trouble about ascertaining the particular place of its 
 existence. The earth was formed for the habitation of 
 men, and they who first dwelt on it no doubt occupied 
 certain parts of it; and those of whom we have spoken as 
 a religious community, under the appellation of Adam or 
 the most Ancient Church, whilst they remained in their 
 
INTO TEE LIGHT. 135 
 
 primitive integrity, were distinguished for their wisdom, 
 their love of God and of goodness, and then, with such 
 mental virtues, an Eden bloomed around them. All nature, 
 even in its external form and appearance, was in agree- 
 ment with the internal condition of their minds, and ad- 
 ministered external delight and pleasure both to their 
 minds and bodily senses, so that it may be justly said the 
 whole earth was then a paradise. 
 
 Let us for a moment look at the external world. Is it 
 not beautiful in all seasons and in all hours ?— from the 
 rising of the sun to the time of its going down ; even in the 
 solemn midnight hour, when the moon and the stars assert 
 their peaceful reign. This wonderful world, so pleasing to 
 the natural sight, in all the plenitude of its beauty and 
 magnificence, when religiously considered, is but a type, a 
 symbol or shadow of another, a spiritual and interior world, 
 —a spiritual universe. In this outer world we perceive there 
 is a sun which forms, as it were, its heart and centre, and 
 from which, as from a vast fountain, every manifestation 
 of beauty and of order proceeds. So also in that other 
 inner world there is likewise a sun. But the sun of that 
 world is a living sun. It is the proximate sphere of the 
 love and wisdom of the Almighty. And the Lord Jesus 
 Christ in his glorified manhood, as " God over all, blessed 
 forever, " is in the midst of that sun, — the Sun of Right- 
 eousness. And He is our Creator, Preserver, and Re- 
 deemed—the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and 
 the End, the First and the Last, — who is, and who was, 
 and who is to come, the Almighty. His government in 
 our hearts ever gives the spiritual Garden of Eden, the 
 garden of delights to our souls. That this Garden of Eden 
 and its trees described in our Bibles were allegorically un- 
 derstood, their very names evidently imply. What is a 
 tree of life ? Solomon in his book of Proverbs answers, 
 
136 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 11 Wisdom is a tree of life." And may we not ask, Did 
 you ever find life growing on any material or earthly 
 tree? Has life more than one source ? and is not the 
 glorified Jesus the Way, the Truth, and the Life, itself? 
 Again, do we not find this same Tree of Life, here repre- 
 sented as in the midst of the garden, declared in the book 
 of Revelation to be in the midst of heaven ? " To him 
 that overcometh," it is said, "I will give to eat of the 
 Tree of Life, that is in the midst of the paradise of God." 
 Once more we find the " Tree of Life " in the midst of the 
 New Jerusalem, and on both sides of the river. " In the 
 midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, 
 was there the Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of 
 fruits, and yielded her fruit every month ; and the leaves 
 of the tree were for the healing of the nations." The holy 
 influence of the Lord, in its twofold character of love and 
 light within our minds, is the Tree of Life. This, if we 
 are in the way of regeneration, is in the midst of the 
 garden in our souls. This is the source of the joys of the 
 heavenly inhabitants. This is the centre, and this per- 
 vades all the principles of the true Christian Church on 
 earth. The Tree of Knowledge of good and evil is equally 
 indicative of a spiritual existence ; for on what other tree 
 does knowledge grow, save on that of the human mind ? 
 And knowledge grows only as we desire to know. The 
 knowledge of external things may well be called the knowl- 
 edge of good and evil, for it is the knowledge of the 
 effects of religion and of irreligion, of order and of disorder, 
 of truths and of appearances. This knowledge is a tree that 
 has its uses in the garden of the soul, but its fruit is not 
 to be eaten. Our own knowledge is good to know and to 
 use, but not to eat or confirm, and as it were to make part 
 of ourselves. The popular but idle fancy that this tree 
 was an apple-tree, cannot be called even a thought : it is 
 
INTO THE LIGHT 137 
 
 a mere fancy, and wholly devoid of any scriptural or 
 rational foundation. The other trees of the garden, that 
 are " pleasant to the sight and good for food,". are our per- 
 ceptions of heavenly wisdom and love ; and of these we 
 may freely eat, — they are in unison with Him who is the 
 Truth itself. When we speak of our perceptions, we mean 
 a certain interior sensation which the spiritually-minded 
 man has from the Lord, enabling him to know as it were 
 at once whether a thing be good and true, or the con- 
 trary. It is what he calls conscience. A man dead in 
 trespasses and sins is devoid of such conscience, and with- 
 out this intellectual perception. The Sacred Scripture is 
 exceedingly particular in keeping up the distinction be- 
 tween these three kinds of trees, — the tree of life, the tree 
 of knowledge, and the trees pleasant to the sight and pro- 
 ducing fruit for food. Of the fruits of the last-mentioned 
 trees, mankind were originally directed freely to eat. 
 " Behold, I have given to you every herb bearing seed, 
 and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, 
 which is upon the face of all the earth ; to you it shall be 
 for food." The trees pleasant to the sight and good for 
 food, as well as the herb and grain, are said to have been 
 on the face or surface of the earth : it is not so said of 
 the trees of life and of knowledge. The originally pre- 
 scribed food for mankind was herbs, grains, and fruits; 
 for a period of more than sixteen hundred years, or to the 
 time of the flood, this was the only, the universal food of 
 mankind. The Creator and Lawgiver appears to have 
 deemed these productions all-sufficient for the nourishment, 
 the health and strength, of the human family. An illus- 
 trious and learned expounder of the Scriptures, alluding to 
 the original food of man, says, " Eating the flesh of animals, 
 considered in itself, is something profane; for the people 
 of the most ancient time never ate the flesh of any beast 
 
138 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 or fowl, but only seeds, especially bread made of wheat, also 
 the fruits of trees and esculent plants ; to these they added 
 milk and what is produced from milk, as butter, etc. To kill 
 animals and to eat their flesh was to them unlawful, and 
 seemed as something bestial ; they only sought from them 
 services and uses; but in succeeding times, when man began 
 to grow fierce like a wild beast, yea, fiercer, then first they 
 began to kill animals, and to eat their flesh. " They were per- 
 mitted so to do, as they are permitted to do every other kind 
 of evil, such, for example, as drunkenness and all other carnal 
 indulgences. The diet God prescribed for man in Eden, 
 He pronounced to be " very good ;" a diet which, from ex- 
 perience and observation, we can honestly say is fully 
 adapted to our nature, preservative of our health, calcu- 
 lated to prolong our days upon earth, to give vigor and 
 energy both to our physical and our mental faculties, and, 
 as such, is a diet worthy of universal acceptation. 
 
 But we must speak more fully of this Garden of Eden. It 
 is evidently regarded in the Sacred Scriptures as a symbol of 
 a regenerated, cultivated, and sanctified state of the human 
 soul ; it is the emblem of the kingdom or Church of the 
 Lord on earth ; it denotes the intelligence and wisdom by 
 which this first religious community, or the members of 
 the Adamic Church, were favored from the Lord, — the 
 love and goodness in which their minds were principled. 
 For as a well-planted and properly-cultivated garden is 
 not only stored with fruits of every variety, with vegeta- 
 bles, grain, and flowers for the use of man, but is, in its 
 beautiful aspect, also both pleasing to the eye and delight- 
 ful to the mind, so when an individual is truly receptive of in- 
 telligence and truth, of love and faith, and of other religious 
 and heavenly virtues from the Lord, that individual is then 
 spiritually a garden and an Eden ; his life and conduct 
 are orderly, beautiful, and useful ; he brings forth and 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 13 9 
 
 bears to perfection the pure graces, virtues, and fruits of 
 the kingdom of heaven ; he is amiable and pleasing in the 
 sight of God, of angels, and of men ; and as the prophet 
 Isaiah saith (xli. 3), " He is then made like Eden, and the 
 garden of the Lord ; joy and gladness are found in him ; 
 thanksgiving and the voice of melody." Thus, beloved, 
 have we laid before you what is truly and spiritually 
 meant by the Garden of Eden and its trees ; and this fruit- 
 ful, useful, beautiful, and happy state was the real, reli- 
 gious, and spiritual condition of the religious community 
 called Adam, or the most ancient people or Church of 
 whom we have any account in the pages of Divine Rev- 
 elation. 
 
 From what has been submitted to your calm and Chris- 
 tian consideration, we trust that when you think of the 
 Garden of Eden you will not only think of the beauties of 
 a natural garden, but of the magnificence of what is spirit- 
 ual ; that is, of the state of the human mind when truly 
 fruitful and useful in all the doctrines, virtues, and graces 
 of the Christian life and its heavenly nature. We hope, in 
 the tree of life, you will see a symbol of those Divine prin- 
 ciples of love to the Lord, and faith in his name and 
 Word and Gospel. Such a believer is the blessed one 
 whom Jesus Christ calls " a good tree, bringing forth good 
 fruit;" he is planted in the Church, in the house of his 
 God, by the river of living waters; and in the course of 
 Divine Providence he will subsequently be transplanted 
 to mansions in the eternal heavens, to flourish there as a 
 tree of Paradise, an angel of light, a son of the Lord's 
 love, and a happy citizen of his kingdom forever. Our 
 fervent prayer is, that your souls may all become Gardens 
 of Eden, — gardens of delight; that the Tree of Life, the 
 Divine love and faith from the Lord, may dwell in your 
 inmost hearts, and transform you into Edens, — gardens of 
 
140 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 delight, each producing spiritual virtues, heavenly graces, 
 and celestial qualities, and that you may be so devoted, 
 useful, and amiable in the garden of the Lord as to be duly 
 prepared, whenever He sees fit, for being transplanted to 
 the Paradise above, — the kingdom of our adorable Lord 
 and Saviour, — there everlastingly to enjoy the unutterable 
 perfections of that heavenly world as glorified spirits and 
 angels throughout the boundless ages of eternity. Amen. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT, \i\ 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 ON THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT, AND THE TEMPTER. 
 
 Genesis ii, 7, iii. 1. 
 
 The subjects we are about to present to the considera- 
 tion of our hearers this morning are confessedly some- 
 what mysterious, though of the most interesting importance 
 to our understanding of the sacred pages. Commentators 
 have conceived and published opinions and conjectures on 
 the subject of our text, so vague and inconsistent, that 
 reasoning and judieious minds have been led to disbelief, 
 rather than to a conviction of the truth of the narrative. 
 The whole aceount given in the first chapters of Genesis 
 is either a simple narration of facts, or it is an allegory. 
 If it be an historical relation, its literal meaning should be 
 sought out ; if it be an allegory, then is it equally neces- 
 sary that we should be acquainted with the facts presented 
 in that form of Revelation. The literal interpretation of 
 this part of the Bible, as we have shown in our last two 
 lectures, has been involved in doubts and difficulties from 
 the earliest periods, and the recent developments of phy- 
 sical science have tended rather to strengthen these doubts 
 and increase these difficulties. The peculiar language ap- 
 plied to the tree bearing the forbidden fruit, and called the 
 tree of the knowledge of good and evil, shows evidently 
 that the record should be looked on as an allegory or 
 figurative representation. The learned Jewish Rabbi, 
 
 13 
 
142 OUT OF TEE CLOUDS: 
 
 Simon bar Abraham, says, " Know that in the trees, 
 fountains, and other things of the Garden of Eden, were 
 the figures of the most curious things by which Adam (or 
 the most Ancient Church) saw and understood spiritual 
 principles. " Rabbi Maimonides says that the serpent has 
 relation to the mind of man ; and that in the account that 
 is given of creation, the ancient Rabbis, from the time of 
 Moses, held that these things, reduced to an historical 
 form in the first chapters of Genesis, were not to be liter- 
 ally understood, but that this was the method by which, 
 in ancient times, they instructed the people. The teachers 
 of primitive Christianity maintained that the whole ac- 
 count was purely allegorical ; and whoever examines the 
 Scriptures with care will find that similar instructive 
 allegories were used by the sacred penmen throughout 
 the Scriptures of the Old and JS T ew Testaments. The 
 confessed difficulties in comprehending what is meant by 
 the trees of the Garden, though different in kind, are the 
 same in principle. Concerning the fruit of the forbidden 
 tree, a physical notion has been conceived by many pro- 
 fessors of religion as well as by modern commentators ; 
 whereas a mental condition of the soul is really meant. 
 "Life" and "the knowledge of good and evil" are not 
 vegetable productions; they are spiritual and intellectual 
 existences. Yet professing teachers of the Bible have 
 very generally believed that this forbidden tree was a 
 real vegetable production in Eden, having its branches, 
 leaves,, and fruit like other trees. What particular kind 
 of tree it was, has been a matter of considerable contro- 
 versy among the learned literalists: some say it was a 
 vine, others the fig-tree, and others again are persuaded 
 that it was an apple-tree. Now, does it not seem some- 
 thing very extraordinary — something quite out of the 
 order and the nature of things — that any mere tree, or the 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 143 
 
 fruit of any tree, whether ^gr, apple, or grape, should have 
 in its nature the power to make man wise, or to give him 
 knowledge and understanding superior to what he had 
 before eating any such fruits ? Wisdom and intellectual 
 knowledge are not material things ; — they grow not on 
 any trees of the vegetable kingdom: they are things of a 
 spiritual character, and can only be communicated to man- 
 kind in a spiritual way. The very idea of supposing that 
 to eat an apple, a Jig, or a bunch of grapes, or indeed any 
 other fruit from a tree of the ground, will give wisdom and 
 intelligence to man's mind, is a notion so extravagant, so 
 out of the order and nature of things, and so contrary 
 to the Divine economy, that it is difficult to conceive 
 how men of learning and intellectual attainments could 
 possibly give way to such a sentiment; more especially 
 when, by a little attention to the testimony of the sacred 
 pages, they must perceive that though trees are therein 
 frequently mentioned, this is always in such a connection 
 as to show demonstrably that not material trees, but 
 things of an intellectual and spiritual kind, of which trees 
 are the outward emblems, are signified by the trees of the 
 Bible- Thus, the prophet Isaiah, treating of the Lord's 
 people, says, " They shall be called trees of righteous- 
 ness;" and in the Gospel it is said, in speaking of the men 
 of the Church, "The tree is known by its fruits;" and 
 " Ye shall know them by their fruits." Again, " The axe 
 must be laid to the root of the trees; every tree which 
 bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into 
 the fire." How plainly is it to be seen, then, that earthly 
 trees are not what is here intended to be understood, but 
 that the language has reference to men, and what imme- 
 diately relates to men ! What, then, are we to understand 
 by this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, bearing 
 the forbidden fruit, the partaking of which wa$ attended 
 
144 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 with such serious and lamentable consequences to the 
 human race? 
 
 In a former lecture it was shown that the Hebrew term 
 Adam was not the name of an individual, the first created 
 man of the human race, but that it was a generic term 
 literally meaning mankind, or the Lord's first Church on 
 earth ; that by the Garden of Eden was denoted or de- 
 scribed the religious and spiritual condition of that Church 
 and its members, as it regarded their love and faith in the 
 Lord, with all the varied and heavenly graces, virtues, and 
 other religious and spiritual qualities they then possessed. 
 By the tree of life, or lives, it was also shown that by it 
 was denoted the Lord in man, and man in the Lord, by 
 man's reception of the Divine life and eternal principles 
 from the Lord, the Fountain of all life, and of all good- 
 ness. And so long as the men of this most Ancient 
 Church remained faithful, and were steadfast and im- 
 movable in the love and fear of the Lord, they tasted not 
 of the forbidden fruit ; all their thoughts and affections 
 were directed to the Lord as the Supreme object of their 
 adoration ; to Him, and to Him only, they looked for love 
 and life, for wisdom and every good ; on Him they affec- 
 tionately depended, and in Him they were happy. 
 
 '* Ah ! who their virtues can declare I Who pierce, 
 With vision pure, into their secret stores 
 Of health, and life, and joy ? The food of man, 
 While yet he lived in innocence, and told 
 A length of golden years; unfleshed in blood, 
 A stranger to the savage arts of modern life." 
 
 How long mankind continued to live in this primeval 
 state of innocence and bliss in the Garden of Eden, we are 
 not informed : it may have been and doubtless was for a 
 long series of years. But in process of time mankind 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 145 
 
 began to look to themselves and not wholly to the Lord ; 
 to look outwardly instead of inwardly ; to judge by appear- 
 ances instead of realities ; to lean on their own under- 
 standings and intellectual attainments, their senses and 
 their own wills, as they had the capacity to do, being 
 created free agents: thus seceding from the Lord, they 
 began to conceive their own intelligence and knowledge 
 were wholly self-derived, instead of acquiescing in the 
 Divine prohibition, as a caution of merciful love and wis- 
 dom, warning them that if they preferred the appearances 
 of their own knowledge and intelligence to the lessons of 
 heavenly intelligence symbolized by the other trees of 
 the mental garden, they would descend or fall into a 
 carnal state of mind, and thus realize what the apostle 
 has said, " To be carnally minded is death, but to be 
 spiritually minded is life and peace." The forbidding 
 mankind "to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and 
 evil" is in reality a Fatherly and merciful spirit of 
 caution; pointing out unto them and to us likewise the 
 inevitable consequences of slighting the Lord's will and 
 wisdom and leaning on their own intelligence, their own 
 wills and understandings. It is from this source, even 
 in the present age of the Church, that so many now 
 reject the love and wisdom of the Lord, and follow the 
 dictates of their own carnal hearts, and perish in igno- 
 rance and vice. If we turn from the light of heaven, we 
 become mentally dark; if we turn from the warmth of 
 heavenly love, we become spiritually cold; and if our 
 thoughts and affections remain with the lower principles 
 of our nature, and will not advance to the higher, we be- 
 come selfish and carnal ; and spiritual darkness, coldness, 
 and selfishness constitute spiritual death. In the day, in 
 the very hour, that we adopt these principles and act from 
 them, — that we thus eat or appropriate the products of the 
 
 13* 
 
146 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 tree of the knowledge of good and evil, — we spiritually die. 
 It was thus the most Ancient or Adamic Church died, by 
 eating this forbidden fruit. 
 
 But this subject will appear still plainer by considering 
 what is meant by the serpent, that creature being said to 
 be the medium by which the woman, or, as we have said, 
 the most Ancient Church, was tempted to eat of the for- 
 bidden fruit. Who or what this serpent was, the religious 
 world, with their learned commentators, have ever been 
 at a loss satisfactorily to determine. Great difficulties 
 have always been experienced in the way of a satisfactory 
 understanding of the narrative. We cannot believe in the 
 existence of a talking serpent ; we do not think that the 
 Creator ever endowed a reptile with the capability of 
 reasoning; nor can we conceive that mankind were seduced 
 from their integrity by the utterances of a snake. 
 
 There is such a phenomenon as feeling a thing to be 
 true, even although there may be difficulties in the way 
 of its clear utterance and demonstration. This we call 
 perception : and the honest and good heart which loves 
 truth for its own sake will often perceive the truth of a 
 subject more clearly in its proposition than in the argu- 
 ment for its support. Under such perceptions we proceed 
 to the examination of the question who or what the ser- 
 pent was by which the fall of man was accomplished. 
 
 Serpent, in our language, comes from the Latin word 
 serpens, signifying creeper; but the Hebrew term is 
 Nachash, and has no relation to the form or motion or 
 any external attribute of the serpent : it is a term descrip- 
 tive solely of mental properties, being derived from a verb 
 signifying to search, to scrutinize closely, to divine or use 
 enchantments, to find oat by experiment, and to practice 
 augury or divination. The name, therefore, is obviously 
 more appropriate in its original application to the propen- 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 14f 
 
 sities, the passions, and the principles of the human mind, 
 than to a brute or an unintelligent reptile. But it is very 
 generally agreed by religious professors that, whatever 
 might have been the instrument or agent, the real tempter 
 was the devil ; and that for this purpose he crept into, or 
 assumed the form and appearance of, a serpent. But no 
 devil is even alluded to in the account of the transaction : 
 " The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Now, consider- 
 ing the subject literally, and remembering the term used 
 in the original is expressive of mental properties, we can- 
 not admit the idea of a talking and reasoning serpent. 
 
 Dr. Adam Clarke, like other commentators on the pas- 
 sage, considers the whole affair as a narrative of facts, 
 and, after the use of much Hebrew and Arabic learning, 
 arrives at the conclusion that the serpent was not the 
 creature meant, but that an orang-outang was the tempter, 
 and that the chattering and babbling of which it is now 
 capable are the remains of the speech with which it was 
 once endowed, and, of course, the evidences of its curse. 
 If we considered the record as a narrative of literal facts 
 only, we would reject both the serpent and the orang- 
 outang, and at once assert the tempter to have been a man. 
 The term implies mental properties which are not pos- 
 sessed by either of these creatures, but are peculiar to 
 mankind. Man alone is endowed with rationality, and 
 consequently with speech. In our former lectures we 
 traced mankind from their primeval state, declared in the 
 Sacred Scriptures to have been of the earth, dark and void ; 
 we stated that thus their original condition was the lowest 
 degree of human life, and that thence they were gradually 
 and successively elevated to the highest degree of human 
 excellence by the teaching which they received through 
 the voice or Word of the Lord in Eden. That low degree 
 of life in which mankind originally stood was doubtless of 
 
148 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 a sensual nature, though not then of an evil quality ; for 
 evil had not yet come into existence. This sensual nature 
 is the kind of life into which mankind now first comes, 
 though its quality, in consequence of the fall, is now more 
 or less tainted with hereditary propensities to evil. As an 
 infant, man is the mere creature of sensation ;■ and the life 
 of the senses, or sensual principle, is first developed, and 
 must be so before the higher degrees of intellectual and 
 moral life can be unfolded. To this sensual principle the 
 people of the most Ancient or Adamic Church gave the 
 name of serpent. This was the allegorical tempter ; and 
 by giving heed to the suggestions of this principle in 
 themselves they fell : this was the fall of man. After 
 the men of the Adamic Church had lived in a state of 
 innocence, rectitude, and happiness for a series of ages, — 
 how many we are not informed,— they began gradually and 
 imperceptibly to recede from their innocence and purity. 
 They leaned or reposed on their own wills and under- 
 standings, instead of looking only to the Lord ; they 
 seceded from the Divine centre of love, of life, of wisdom, 
 by indulging and trusting in the gratification of their 
 sensual principle in a forbidden or unconstitutional man- 
 ner. Thus, self-love and the love of worldly things having 
 gained the ascendency over their previous innocency and 
 integrity, they ultimately sank into a state of actual evil. 
 
 " The tree of the knowledge of good and evil," therefore, 
 implied that they were free agents; they had liberty to do 
 good, or to do evil, but they were required for their own 
 happiness not to secede from the Lord. They were to 
 acknowledge receiving all love, and life, and wisdom from 
 Him ; they were to depend upon Him and regard his will 
 as their surest guide ; but if they seceded and relied on 
 their own wills and understandings, they would assuredly 
 know — i.e. experience — evil as well as good. They would 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 149 
 
 not only think they were wise and good in themselves, 
 but they would descend into self-love, the love of earthly 
 things ; thus their intellects would be darkened and their 
 wills perverted, and they would sink lower and lower 
 into what is sinful, till the evils of a perverted sensual 
 principle would hold dominion in their souls. This sen- 
 sual principle, then, is what is meant by the Serpent or 
 Tempter. And are we not all aware that there are many 
 persons who suffer themselves to be so absorbed in sen- 
 sual indulgences as to lose all enjoyment and taste for 
 everything nobler ? These become altogether sensually- 
 minded persons. They prefer earth to heaven, and the 
 things of time and sense to those that are eternal. These, 
 like Dan in the tribes of Israel, are " serpents in the way." 
 Man, however, is formed not by one mental principle only, 
 but by many; and he has not lost any of them by the fall: 
 that calamity deteriorated their quality and perverted the 
 order of their existence, but it obliterated none. 
 
 The Serpent or Tempter which seduced the inhabitants 
 of Eden from their innocence and wisdom is the same 
 tempter as that by which transgression and guilt have 
 since been perpetuated. Man is its exclusive author, and 
 not anything or any creature extrinsic to him. To charge 
 it on some other being, whether serpent or orang-outang, 
 is only another act of self-delusion. 
 
 The "tree of life" is the heavenly life of love and faith 
 prevailing in the human soul ; the forbidden fruit is all the 
 evil and sin that is opposed to the life of heaven within ; 
 the Serpent or Tempter is the sensual and the now de- 
 praved principle of our nature : if, therefore, beloved, you 
 desire to regain your true Eden, — the Divine favor, and a 
 place of unspeakable felicity in the kingdom of heaven, — - 
 look unto the Lord alone; give up your will to his will, 
 cease from appropriating to life all forbidden fruit, eat of 
 
150 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 the "tree of life," cultivate a pure and heavenly love 
 towards the Lord Jesus Christ, obey his most holy laws, 
 and the Eden, the garden of delights above, even the 
 " Paradise of God," the heavens of boundless peace and 
 joy, will be your blessed portion and inheritance for ever 
 and ever. Amen. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 151 
 
 DISCOURSE X. 
 
 bible testimony on abstinence from the flesh of 
 animals as food. 
 
 Christian Friends : 
 
 It is with feelings of peculiar pleasure that I meet with 
 you on each returning Sabbath in this place, — a house 
 which we have consecrated to the worship of Almighty 
 God, and in which we have periodically assembled each 
 returning Sabbath, for a series of years, to worship and 
 honor and magnify his Holy Name. But it is with the 
 utmost gratification that I have the pleasure of meeting 
 you here to-day, to celebrate once more the anniversary 
 of our Church in this the land of our voluntary adoption. 
 Twenty-three years ago, a few of us landed at this city, 
 strangers, in a strange country, far from those scenes and 
 associations that had been dear to us from childhood, and 
 widely separated from our relatives and former friends. 
 Poor and unknown were we to all whom we beheld around 
 us, and there were none from whom we had any especial 
 reason to anticipate the sympathies and consolations of 
 friendship. We were not, however, discouraged by what 
 we beheld, nor cast down by our seemingly disconsolate 
 condition. Our motto was, "The Lord will provide.' 7 Like 
 Abraham of old, we had left the land of our nativity to 
 accomplish an important work. Our purpose was nothing 
 less than to introduce principles of religion and knowledge 
 among a free people, which we believed to be essential to 
 
152 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 the happiness of all men here, and indispensable to their 
 peace and everlasting salvation hereafter. With such 
 ends and purposes in view we crossed the waters of the 
 mighty deep ; with such views w r e disembarked on the 
 shores of this fertile land ; and the blessing of the Father 
 of all Spirits has been on bur every religious effort. Our 
 labors, though not attended with that display which some 
 Christian professors have experienced, have yet been 
 crowned with signal success, and with the Psalmist we 
 can truly say, in relation to our progress, "It is the Lord's 
 doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." 
 
 It has been customary with us, in commemorating these 
 Anniversaries of our Church, to address you on some one 
 or more of those peculiar doctrines which we entertain as 
 Bible-Christians, and by which we are distinguished from 
 other denominations ; and it is my intention, this morning, 
 to pursue the same course, and to present to your serious 
 and Christian consideration the Scripture Testimony, so 
 far as I may be enabled of the Divine Mercy to do so, on 
 one of those subjects wherein we deviate, both in theory 
 and in practice, from the great body of our Christian 
 Brethren. 
 
 You are all aware that the propagation of tenets of a 
 peculiar nature, or the adoption of habits that are singular 
 or unique, has a tendency to attract the attention of in- 
 quisitive minds, and will often lead them to inquire into 
 the origin and foundation of such deviations from the pre- 
 vailing opinions and practices of men. In these cases it 
 is a duty incumbent on the adopters of such peculiarities, 
 whether in faith or practice, or in both, to be "always 
 ready to give an answer to every man that asketh the 
 reason of the hope that is in them." These are precisely, 
 the circumstances, then, in which we are placed : we differ 
 from others, and should be ready to point out the cause ; 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 153 
 
 hence the duty of searching after truth devolves upon us 
 imperiously, not only that we may be able to display our 
 views with clearness and perspicuity, to the edification of 
 our brethren, but also that we ourselves, by our efforts to 
 benefit others, may progressively approximate to the per- 
 fection of that wisdom which is in Christ Jesus our 
 Lord. 
 
 As a religious community we have adopted a mode of 
 life, in regulating the appetites and fulfilling the physical 
 and organic laws of the body, altogether different from the 
 practices of other Christian professors. We have long dis- 
 continued the habit of feeding on the flesh of butchered 
 animals, and have confined ourselves wholly to vegetable 
 productions. We have long resisted the allurements of the 
 intoxicating bowl, and have been contented to satisfy our 
 thirst from the limpid stream. The system of temper- 
 ance which we thus religiously practice, furnishes us with 
 strength and activity sufficient to support the most labori- 
 ous occupations, secures one of the all-important blessings 
 of life, — the possession of health, — and qualifies us for the 
 enjoyment of a more perfect mode of being and intellectual 
 delights than ever falls to the participation of the " wine- 
 bibber or the glutton." 
 
 Deeply impressed with the importance of the doctrine 
 that " It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine," 
 and knowing it to be the duty of a minister of the Word 
 of God faithfully to communicate to his congregation 
 whatever information he may deem requisite " to build 
 them up in the faith," to assist them to understand the 
 Divine Record, and to remove every probable objection 
 to the truth, the credibility, or the practicability and use- 
 fulness of his doctrines, I purpose on this occasion, the 
 annual assembly of our Church, with Divine assistance, to 
 present you with such a development of the doctrine of 
 
 14 
 
154 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 the Bible, in relation to abstinence from the flesh of 
 animals, as, it is to be hoped, will go far to satisfy you 
 of the correctness of a vegetable diet, and of its con- 
 sistency with enlightened reason and harmony with the 
 laws of our nature, and the plain testimony of the Word 
 of God. 
 
 It is not, however, the intention of your speaker to enter 
 into any illustration of the subject from anatomical or 
 physiological facts, though this might be done very effect- 
 ually, if here requisite or proper. Looking on the subject, 
 however, in a religious light, we propose to treat it as such, 
 and to be guided in our labors by the Sacred Scriptures, 
 They are confessedly the foundation of all moral and of all 
 religious principle. It is in them we have presented to 
 our contemplation an unlimited source of knowledge. In 
 them is recorded, for our edification, a Revelation of the 
 will of the Almighty. Here we find those Sacred Precepts 
 according to which we are commanded to regulate our 
 lives, so that we may become the children of God. Here 
 we have unfolded to us the astonishing work of Creation, 
 and the still more wonderful operation of Redemption and 
 Salvation for all that believe. Here also we are taught 
 to know aright the nature and Divine attributes of the 
 Creator, and the Immortalitv of our own souls. Here is 
 presented to us a display of the end of our existence, the 
 proper means by which to preserve that existence, and how 
 to perpetuate our health, prolong our days, and participate 
 in the happiness intended for us by our Maker. To the 
 evidence of the sacred pages, therefore, on the proper food 
 for sustaining life, in accordance with the will of God, — on 
 preserving health and enjoying "a sound mind in a sound 
 body,"- — and at the same time on progressively gaining 
 more and more of heavenly wisdom, our inquiries will 
 this morning be particularly directed. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 155 
 
 At the very commencement of the book of Genesis we 
 find this plain and important commandment prominently 
 set forth, as one of those laws of direction essential to the 
 health and happiness of new-created man : — " Behold, I 
 have given to yoa even every herb bearing seed which is 
 upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which is the 
 fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food." 
 This primeval law of Divine Revelation was undoubtedly 
 given to direct the families of mankind in the selection of 
 their appropriate food. That food, according to the precept, 
 was to be wholly vegetable. The productions of the earth 
 alone were to be to them for meat. These the Creator of 
 all things deemed fully sufficient to sustain his new-formed 
 creature, man. And who will presume to be wiser than 
 the Omniscient? Were not the regulations of this origi- 
 nal Law such as were calculated to preserve the health, 
 support the vigor, sustain the power, and secure the phys- 
 ical happiness of the human race? Have after-ages ever 
 disputed the reality of the enjoyments of the primitive 
 race of men, especially whilst they continued in their in- 
 tegrity ? Encompassed, as they were, by the lovely scenes 
 of Paradise, and guided and influenced by the mild princi- 
 ples of this Divine law, whether they contemplated the 
 glorious vault of heaven, or their eyes reposed on the 
 beautiful verdure of the earth, whether they listened to 
 the sweet music of the murmuring brook, or wandered 
 in pleasing reflections amid the umbrageous solitude of 
 the forest, their enjoyments would doubtless be more in- 
 tellectual, more spiritual, and every way superior to any- 
 thing experienced in our day by degenerated human nature. 
 So entirely have men, in all subsequent times, been per- 
 suaded of the truth of this view of the subject, that the 
 period has been emphatically denominated the Golden 
 Age. 
 
156 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 " Men of the Golden Age, who fed on fruit, 
 Nor. durst with bloody meats their mouths pollute; 
 Then birds in airy space might safely move, 
 And tim'rous hares on heaths securely rove; 
 Nor needed fish the guileful hook to fear, — 
 For all was peaceful, and that peace sincere." 
 
 What, then, Christian friends, shall we say more con- 
 cerning this original Law, — this first Revelation of the will 
 of the Creator of all things, relative to the diet of his crea- 
 ture man ? Shall we be justified in concluding that it was 
 intended by its all-wise Author to be applicable only to 
 Adam, and that merely during his continuance in Para- 
 dise ? In so judging we should undoubtedly err ; we 
 should be putting a partial construction on the Divine 
 Record, when we are most unequivocally assured that the 
 " Scriptures are of no private interpretation," but that "all 
 Scripture is given for our edification and to make us wise.' 7 
 Hence the law we are considering is for us, as well as for 
 those to whom it was first given; its principles, whether 
 dietetic or spiritual, or both, concern us all, and it is for us 
 to apply those principles, according to their fair and reason- 
 able interpretation, to the regulation of our lives, the gov- 
 ernment of our appetites, and the subjugation of all our 
 unhallowed propensities. It appears, indeed, to be an in- 
 controvertible fact, that till after the deluge, or for a period 
 of over sixteen hundred years, mankind were sustained 
 wholly by vegetable food ; it is also clear from the nature 
 of the Law, as recorded in the text before us, that man 
 was originally intended to live upon vegetables only ; and, 
 as no change appears to have been made in the organic 
 structure of men's bodies, after the flood, nor any extra- 
 ordinary alteration in the vegetable world, to render its 
 productions less nutritive than they were before, it is not 
 probable that any change was made, or intended to be 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 15 7 
 
 made, in the nature of their food. An illustrious expounder 
 of the Sacred Scriptures has justly remarked, " Eating the 
 flesh of animals, considered in itself, is something pro- 
 fane ; for the people of the most ancient time never ate 
 the flesh of any beast or fowl, but only seeds, especially 
 bread made of wheat, also the fruits o*f trees, esculent 
 plants, milk, and what is produced from milk, as butter, 
 etc. To kill animals and to eat their flesh was unlawful, 
 and seemed as something bestial ; they only sought from 
 them services and uses; but in succeeding times, when 
 man began to grow fierce like a wild beast, yea, fiercer, then 
 first they began to kill animals and to eat their flesh." The 
 diet at first prescribed was declared by Infinite Wisdom 
 "to be very good," and it would be derogatory to his 
 character to suppose He had erred. We cannot otherwise 
 believe, therefore, but we are justified in concluding that 
 the dietetic principles presented to our consideration, in 
 this first law of God to man, are adapted to our nature, 
 preservative of our health, calculated to prolong our days 
 upon earth, to give vigor and energy both to our physical 
 and mental faculties, and are worthy of all acceptation. 
 
 Were we to judge of the opinions of some of our fellow- 
 Christians, however, by the manner in which they speak 
 and write on this subject, we could come to no other 
 conclusion than that our heavenly Father had found it 
 necessary to abrogate one of his first laws to mankind as 
 imperfect, and had seen good to substitute another in 
 its place, of a nature wholly different from the former. 
 Strange as it may appear, there are, nevertheless, those 
 to be found among professors of Christianity w r ho have 
 seemingly thus judged of the ways of the Almighty. 
 Professing to believe in Revelation and in the immuta- 
 bility of its Author, they yet contend, particularly when 
 reasoning in support of the carnivorous habit of feeding on 
 
 14* 
 
158 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 the mangled bodies of butchered animals, that an error 
 of a most serious nature must have been committed 
 when man was directed to sustain his physical existence 
 by mere vegetable food! "Morbid debility," say they, 
 "induced by an often unfriendly state of the atmosphere, 
 together with the labor of cultivating the ground, would 
 necessarily require a higher and more stimulating nutri- 
 ment than the vegetable kingdom could supply." This 
 imaginary error is supposed to have been "found out" 
 about the time of the deluge, and as soon as God had 
 made the momentous discovery, He is represented by them 
 as having promulgated a new law, as if in order to coun- 
 teract the eifects of the unfortunate error attributed to Him. 
 11 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you." 
 "Here," say such reasoners, "we have indubitable proof 
 that it is now lawful to eat flesh ! Oh, how very gracious 
 is our God ! How comforting the information contained 
 in this indulgent law! Is it not as plain as language can 
 express it that we are here allowed to eat of every moving 
 thing that liveth, without any restraining self-denial, or any 
 needless mortification of our bodily appetites?" 
 
 We shall not stop to dwell on the inconsistency nor to 
 enlarge on the blasphemy of representing the Omniscient 
 as capable of erring, or of finding out a mistake in his 
 legislation, which had continued undetected by his Infinite 
 Wisdom for sixteen hundred years ! But we shall bespeak 
 your serious and unbiased attention whilst we inquire a 
 little more minutely into the correctness of the generally 
 received acceptance of this new law, — this supposed indul- 
 gent grant to feed on " every moving thing that liveth." 
 
 In the first place, then, it appears to us evident from the 
 history and experience of all ages and of all nations, that 
 "every moving thing that liveth" has never been consid- 
 ered as fit for meat, by any one class of people on the face 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 159 
 
 of the whole earth; even the ferocious cannibal of the 
 forest, who would feel no compunction at feeding on the 
 flesh of a fellow-mortal, would shrink from the odious 
 practice of eating "every moving thing that liveth." True 
 it is, mankind, in the aggregate, have treated the animal 
 part of creation much after the manner that the poet has 
 represented the Mohammedans as treating their Prophet's 
 mysterious charge, in relation to a certain portion of the 
 swine, that no good Mussulman may taste : 
 
 "With sophistry their sauce they sweeten, 
 Till quite from tail to snout 'tis eaten." 
 
 So, one man will eat beef, but not pork, another will eat 
 mutton, another fish, another bear's- meat, and perhaps 
 another may be found that would not object to a dish of 
 frogs or snails : but nowhere can the man be found that 
 will eat " every moving thing that liveth." Can we, then, 
 reasonably believe that the Maker of all things ever gave 
 forth such a precept ? 
 
 In the second place, the commonly accepted interpre- 
 tation of this law is not in agreement with the declarations 
 of the context: "Flesh ivith the life thereof which is the 
 blood thereof, shall ye not eat: for surely your blood of 
 your lives will I require ; at the hands of every Beast 
 will I require it, as at the hands o/Man." The most in- 
 veterate devotee to the habit of flesh-eating will not surely 
 contend that God, in this text, commanded men to eat 
 flesh, and yet accompanied that precept with a clause in 
 which He declares He will require the " blood of your 
 lives " for every beast slain. If He had intended us to feed 
 on flesh, would He have accompanied the grant with such 
 a clause? Would He, as our Creator, have implanted in 
 our bosoms a feeling of commiseration so hostile to his 
 purpose ? — sympathies so potent for the suffering victim ? 
 
160 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 Could He intend that we should eat our food with perpet- 
 ual compunction and unceasing disquietude ? — that every 
 morsel should be purchased with a pang, and every meal 
 empoisoned with remorse ? And to increase our consterna- 
 tion to the utmost, would He have imperatively declared 
 He would require the blood of every slain beast at our 
 hands, and have inspired his Prophet to announce unto us 
 most solemnly that " he that killeth an ox is as if he slew 
 a man" ? Yet all these interrogatories must be admitted 
 affirmatively, if God has commanded us to eat " every 
 moving thing that liveth." 
 
 To justify the common interpretation of this law, how- 
 ever, and to avoid the force of what we have already ad- 
 vanced, it is contended, by some who have undertaken to 
 comment on the Scriptures, that the term in the Hebrew 
 Bible translated beast implies not only an animal, but that 
 it is also applied to an uncivilized or ignorant person, or 
 to such as were in a state of Gentilism ; in support of which 
 they refer us to the Prophet Jonah (chap, iii.), where not 
 only the citizens of Nineveh were commanded to repent, 
 but even the beasts also were directed, by the proclamation 
 of the King, to spread out their hands and cry mightily 
 to the Lord! Admitting the propriety of this appeal to 
 the Hebrew text ; not disputing, for the present, the cor- 
 rectness of the interpretation for which they contend; 
 grant it all, — and does it prove that God has here allowed 
 man the privilege of feeding on flesh with impunity ? We 
 think not. We will appeal in our turn to the import of 
 the original, in connection with such facts as will not fail, 
 if we are not too sanguine in our conclusions, to convince 
 all minds, untrammeled by the traditions of men, or unen- 
 slaved by the chains of appetite, that the law under consid- 
 eration, as given to Noah, has no reference whatever to 
 eating reptiles, snakes, snails, or any other creeping thing 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 161 
 
 of an animal nature, all of which are expressly prohibited 
 or forbidden in the Levitical code (chap. xi. 41), but that 
 it relates wholly to the productions of the vegetable king- 
 dom, — that it is only an extension, a fuller illustration, 
 a more particular specification of the principles compre- 
 hended in God's first law to man. If we were called on to 
 give a translation of what is rendered every moving 
 thing, we would say, rather, " every creeper." But there 
 is a great variety in the kinds of creepers. There are 
 vegetable creepers, as well as animal ones. " The Vine," 
 says the intelligent author of the " Wonders of Nature and 
 Art," " is a noble plant of the reptile or creeping kind." 
 Animal creepers, we have already seen, were expressly 
 forbidden as articles of food. The creeper of which Noah 
 was by this law allowed to eat, was, in our apprehension, 
 the vine, or grapes, of every hind, in common, or for food, 
 even as they did the green herb, which fruits the antedi- 
 luvians had probably used only for sacred or religious 
 purposes. In corroboration of this view of the subject, 
 and as if designed to prevent any misapprehension as to 
 the nature of the creeper meant in this text, it is expressly 
 written in the very same chapter that "Noah planted a 
 vineyard, that he drank of the wine, and that he was 
 satisfied." There is, moreover, a further provision in the 
 context of the law, that deserves our notice : by this they 
 were mercifully prohibited from using the fruit of these 
 creepers when the flesh with the blood — that is, the 
 pulp with the juice— had acquired a life or spirit by stand- 
 ing together in a crushed state till they had spontaneously 
 fermented, and, in consequence of this process, had actu- 
 ally become inebriating wine, — alike injurious to the physi- 
 cal and the moral life of man. 
 
 Such, my Christian friends, is the plain, unvarnished 
 sense of our understanding of the law before us; a sense 
 
162 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 which neither militates against the wisdom nor the im- 
 mutability of God ; a sense in perfect harmony with the 
 first dietetic law given to mankind. 
 
 Our views, then, on the subject of a vegetable diet as 
 being that regimen designed for man by his Creator, so 
 far, at least, as relates to the antediluvian world, or for a 
 period of more than sixteen hundred years, are acceded 
 to, without disputation, as being correct, and as borne out 
 both by the natural and revealed laws of God ; and though 
 the supposition has been exceedingly prevalent, particularly 
 among modern professors of religion, that the Noachic dis- 
 pensation commenced with a grant, or precept, directing 
 men to " kill and eat," we trust the exposition of the tes- 
 timony we have here given will go far to impress your 
 minds, if not fully to convince your understandings, that 
 they have " foolishly imagined a vain thing," — that they 
 have suffered their judgments to be biased rather by the 
 influence of appetite and the power of habit, than their 
 minds to be convinced by the testimony deducible from 
 the works and the Word of God. In brief, Christian 
 fiMends, we think it must be no difficult matter to see that 
 the superstructure erected in defense of gratifying an un- 
 natural, inhuman, and carnivorous appetite is built on a 
 " sandy foundation " and cannot stand; already, in fact, 
 it is shaken to its very basis, and in a few more revolving 
 years, as the light of moral, physiological, and religious 
 truth becomes more general on the subject, it must inevita- 
 bly sink into its merited oblivion, and become a mere matter 
 of history, at which to wonder. 
 
 We come next to the examination of that part of the 
 Sacred Oracles which primarily related to the people of 
 Israel. It is a portion of Scripture of deep, and often of 
 thrilling, interest to the Christian mind, evincing the Prov- 
 idence of God, as exercised over that peculiar people for 
 
INTO TEE LIGHT. 163 
 
 good; and we are persuaded, with the Divine Blessing, 
 you will be led to agree with us, that on the subject of our 
 present inquiry there is much also recorded that tends to 
 corroborate our principles in relation to diet. 
 
 Among those important commandments promulgated 
 by Jehovah from Mount Sinai, for the edification not only 
 of the children of Israel, but of generations yet to come, 
 there is one with which we shall commence our remarks 
 on this part of the Scripture Testimony: "Thou shalt 
 not kill " is the precept to which we allude. If we can 
 succeed in satisfying you that this has any bearing upon 
 the subject under investigation, or that the Great and 
 Merciful Author designed it to be understood as extending 
 to "the cattle upon a thousand hills," we shall not fear, in 
 such case, to persuade you that eating animal food con- 
 stituted no part of the Divine Economy with the House of 
 Israel. 
 
 But, it will be said, this law is not commonly looked 
 upon by the orthodox portion of the community as having 
 any reference whatever to the subject of our inquiry; that 
 its obvious design was only to prevent the murder of 
 human beings, or to deter man from imbruing his hands 
 in the blood of his brother ; and that any interpretation 
 beyond this must be foreign to the intentions of the Author. 
 We will attempt to meet this conclusion by-and-by; in the 
 mean time we cannot overlook the fact that the history of all 
 nations, in all ages that are gone by, abundantly evinces 
 that this precept has had a very inefficacious effect in regu- 
 lating and directing the conduct of mankind. Wars have 
 existed between man and man, and between nations of 
 men. Individuals have been and still are trained up, 
 educated, and supported by the public, for the very pur- 
 pose of murdering their fellow-beings, and wars and deso- 
 lation, blood and carnage, have covered the earth. If we 
 
164 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 ask of History, where is her Babylon, if we inquire, 
 where is Persepolis, where is Phoenicia, Tyre, Sidon, Jeru- 
 salem, Thebes, or Athens, we shall be answered, they 
 are desolated by the sword. Where the remnants of their 
 glory ? Wasted by the ravages of an invading army. The 
 sword has devoured them. Even the very w 7 eeds that 
 wantonly spring up around their ruins, owe their luxuri- 
 ance to the blood of their murdered citizens. In a state 
 of war, this precept, and indeed every similar institution 
 of God, are entirely superseded by the murderous declara- 
 tions of man. Theft is no longer stealing. Killing, in such 
 case, is not murder. In national warfare it is declared 
 to be just and honorable to plunder and to kill, and he who 
 proves to be the most barbarous and successful acquires 
 the greatest share of renown. What, then, is the influence 
 which the commandment before us has had in staying man 
 from murder ? The poet has given us a powerful, eloquent, 
 and just picture of man's reckless disregard of this Divine 
 Law : 
 
 "'Twas man himself 
 Brought Death into the world : and man himself 
 Gave keenness to his darts, quickened his pace, 
 And multiplied destruction on mankind. 
 With joy Ambition saw, and soon improved 
 The execrable deed. 'Twas not enough 
 By subtle fraud to snatch a single life : — 
 Puny impiety ! Whole kingdoms fell 
 To sate the lust of power: more horrid still, 
 The foulest stain and scandal of our nature 
 Became its boast. One murder made a villain ; 
 Millions a hero. Warriors were privileged 
 To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime !" 
 
 But, to come again to the import of this commandment. 
 What certainty have we, Christian friends, that not to kill 
 men is the only true and proper sense, morally speaking, 
 in which it ought to be understood ? It is certain they 
 
INTO THE LIGHT, 165 
 
 could not eat flesh without killing*. You will observe that 
 the language of the precept, however, is altogether indefi- 
 nite. " Thou shalt riot kill" — what ? Who has authority 
 or presumption to limit this precept to killing men ? Is it 
 not recollected by my hearers that we are peremptorily en- 
 joined "not to add to the law, nor yet diminish aught from 
 it" ? May we not reasonably believe that its application 
 was benevolently intended to reach the animal creation ? 
 " The cattle upon a thousand hills are mine," saith Jehovah, 
 "and not even a single sparrow falleth to the ground with- 
 out the knojvledge of your heavenly Father." Would not 
 the principles of mercy and the sympathies of the human 
 heart lead our judgments to such a conclusion ? For our 
 own part, we believe most sincerely that this law was en- 
 graven not only on the table of stone on Mount Sinai, but 
 that the finger of God has written it also on our hearts ; 
 hence that there exists within us, whilst uncorrupted by 
 the world, a repugnancy to killing animals, and also an 
 aversion to feeding on their flesh ! Had God intended us 
 so to live, He would not have imparted the milk of kind- 
 ness to our bosoms. He always adapts his means to his 
 ends. He would rather have filled us with unfeeling 
 ferocity, — given us hearts incapable of humanity, of sym- 
 pathy or mercy, and armed us, as He has done the hyena 
 or the tiger, with fangs and claws, to lacerate and tear, 
 without remorse or compunction, the palpitating limbs of 
 agonizing life. 
 
 " Ah ! then refrain the blood of beasts to spill, 
 And, till you can create, forbear to kill ! 
 Unthinking man ! renounce that horrid knife, 
 Nor dare to take for food a creature s life." 
 
 But we rest not here alone. We pass on to the con- 
 sideration of other facts, recorded in the history of this 
 remarkable people, — facts which, in our apprehension, 
 
 15 
 
166 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 evince in the most unequivocal manner that it has been 
 the will of the Author of our nature at all times that his 
 creatures should derive their subsistence from the produc- 
 tions of the vegetable kingdom, and that they should not 
 imbrue their hands in the blood of innocent creatures for 
 food. It is recorded in the Bible that while this people 
 were sojourning in the Wilderness they were daily fed, by 
 the bounty of their heavenly Father, with manna, and 
 that this display of his providential and paternal care was 
 exercised over them for forty years in succession ; nor did 
 the manna cease to fall till the people began to eat of the 
 fruits of the Promised Land. It will not be denied that 
 the same Omnipotence, exercised in the continuous pro- 
 duction of the manna, had it pleased the Divine Being so 
 to employ his power, could have furnished, with equal 
 facility, flesh for his people in the Wilderness. But it 
 was obviously the will of the Great Furnisher that his 
 people should be sustained by bread. " Behold," says He, 
 "J will rain bread from heaven for you ; and the people 
 shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I 
 may prove them, whether they will walk according to my 
 law or no." In what way could Jehovah have given a 
 plainer indication of his intentions respecting the food of 
 this his peculiar people ? 
 
 The Land of Promise was presented to the Israelites as 
 a land flowing with milk and honey,— a land of wheat, 
 barley, figs, pomegranates, and other rich vegetable pro- 
 ductions, without even once mentioning any kind of animal 
 food, or depicting the country as adapted to the purposes of 
 grazing, with the view of fattening cattle. The promises 
 made to them as the blessings of obedience were "the 
 dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth ;" and it is, 
 my Christian friends, an important and remarkable fact, 
 though neither generally known nor acknowledged, that 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 1<61 
 
 whenever Jehovah prescribes or appoints a diet for man- 
 kind He never mentions the flesh of animals as constituting 
 any part of that which "is good for food." We would wish 
 you, Christian friends, to particularly note, — we say, pre- 
 scribes or appoints. We are not here speaking of what He 
 permits a sinful nation to do. He appointeth one thing, 
 and yet, under certain circumstances, He permitteth another 
 that is opposed to his appointment. We will illustrate our 
 meaning. He appointed, from the beginning, " that man 
 should leave his father and his mother, and should cleave 
 unto his wife, so that they twain should become intimately 
 one ;" but, "because of the hardness of their hearts," a law 
 was given by Moses permitting the Israelites to put away 
 their wives, by giving them a writ of divorcement. He 
 appointed from the beginning that mankind should live on 
 vegetable food alone; but when the people of Israel, in their 
 disobedience to God's will, and in the wickedness of their 
 hearts, lasted for flesh, and longed to return to the flesh- 
 pots of Egypt, He permitted them to eat flesh ; and this 
 permission, the Bible tells us, was extended not merely for 
 one day, or two days, but for a whole month. And now 
 mark the dreadful consequences resulting from the per- 
 mission of this disobedient people to gratify their sinful 
 desires : " While the flesh was yet between their teeth, 
 ere it was chewed, the judgment of the Lord was against 
 the people, and they were afflicted with a great plague." 
 So great, indeed, was the fatal effect of this transgres- 
 sion, that the place was subsequently denominated " the 
 sepulchre of the lusters." These instances of Scripture 
 Testimony will enable you to understand our meaning in 
 relation to the appointments of Jehovah in contradistinc- 
 tion to the permissions of his Providence. We repeat the 
 observation, then, hoping we are now understood, that 
 whenever Jehovah prescribes or appoints a diet for his 
 
168 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 people, that diet is always vegetable, without any admix- 
 ture of the flesh of animals. " He maketh the grass to 
 grow for the cattle, and the green herb for the use of 
 man." The writer of the book of Ecclesiasticus (xxxix. 26), 
 in describing those few things that are requisite for man's 
 welfare, says, " The principal things for the whole use of 
 man's life are water, fire, iron, and salt, flour of wheat, 
 honey, milk, and the blood of the grape, and oil and 
 clothing." There can be no reasonable doubt but that 
 such was the light in which the subject w T as viewed by 
 the faithful among the ancient Israelites. The refresh- 
 ments David received at different times, for the support 
 of himself and his six hundred faithful followers, from 
 Abigail, from Ziba and Barzillai, and likewise what was 
 brought to him at Hebron, indicate very decidedly that 
 such was the case. The provisions furnished on the vari- 
 ous occasions I have named consisted of bread and wine, 
 wheat and barley, and flour of each kind, beans, lentils, 
 parched corn, raisins, summer fruits, dried figs, honey, 
 butter of kine and cheese of sheep, and oil. These were 
 furnished in quantities sufficient to supply David and his 
 army. The testimony of Judith (chap xi.), though not 
 considered canonical, is yet admitted to have such claims 
 to authenticity as to give importance to whatever is found 
 in that ancient record. Judith, then, declares most un- 
 equivocally that the flesh of animals was expressly for- 
 bidden to the Israelitish nation. In her interview with 
 Holofernes she says, " Our nation shall not be punished, 
 neither can the sword prevail against them, except they 
 sin against their God. But they have determined to lay 
 hands upon their cattle, and purposed to consume all 
 those things that God hath forbidden them to eat by his 
 laws!" Such were the declarations of one of the most 
 eminent and pious females of the Jewish nation in her day. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 169 
 
 And can any one presume to doubt her apprehension of 
 the nature and extent of the Divine prohibitions ? 
 
 The noble example of Daniel and his companions, who. 
 refused to eat the meat from the king's table and to drink 
 the wine, and who solicited pulse to eat and water to 
 drink, is also strongly corroborative of our views. It 
 appears, indeed, from the narrative of the facts as recorded 
 in the first chapter of his Prophecy, that vegetable food is 
 not only the most nutritive, — " for their countenances were 
 fairer and fatter in flesh than all those that ate the portion 
 of the king's meat," — but that it contributes exceedingly to 
 strengthening the intellectual faculties of man ; for " in all 
 matters of wisdom and understanding they were found by 
 the king ten times better than all the magicians and 
 astrologers that were in his realm." In a work published 
 by Paxton, entitled " Illustrations of Scripture," the author 
 declares that the ancient Jews, like the modern Hindoos, 
 abstained entirely from the use of flesh ; and the justly 
 celebrated Dr. Lightfoot informs us that even in the davs 
 of Jesus Christ, the Pharisees taught that it was unlawful 
 to eat flesh or to drink wine. 
 
 Before proceeding to the evidence of the Gospel on the 
 subject of our inquiry, we propose briefly to meet one or 
 two of the many and various objections that will probably 
 be brought forward in opposition to this system of absti- 
 nence from the flesh of animals, which we are feebly at- 
 tempting to advocate. The first we shall notice is one that 
 has the appearance of much plausibility: it is founded on 
 the distinction between clean and unclean animals as 
 described in the Levitical Law. We apprehend the nature 
 of the distinction in that law has been generally misunder- 
 stood. The prohibitions there given are respecting the 
 animals that give milk not fit for the use of man. In con- 
 sequence of such animals not ruminating, their milk is crude 
 
 15* 
 
HO OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 and unwholesome : hence they were not to be touched in 
 the operation of milking, nor should they be domesticated 
 for such a purpose. Strange as it may appear to men of 
 our times, it is nevertheless an important truth, in relation 
 to the people of Israel, that the milk and the fleece were 
 the principal objects for which herds and flocks were kept 
 by them and the Patriarchs who preceded them. Hence 
 it is that we find a charge delivered by Solomon to this 
 end : " Take heed that thou have goat's milk enough for 
 thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the main- 
 tenance of thy maidens. 7 ' Paul also reiterated the like 
 sentiment: "Who," says he, "planteth a vineyard, and 
 eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth a flock, 
 and eateth not of the milk of the flock ?" 
 
 My hearers will doubtless remember that we read in the 
 Bible of a law having been given to man, almost immedi- 
 ately after his creation, prohibiting him from "eating of 
 the tree of knowledge of good and evil ;" from which we at 
 once infer, without any difficulty of apprehension, that he 
 was not to eat of the fruit of that interdicted tree. Now, 
 we understand and interpret this law rightly, and that for 
 this very simple reason, — we have not been accustomed 
 either to eat wood or the branches of trees, or to see our 
 fellow-beings doing so. But when we read of certain 
 animals being allowed and others interdicted, we do not so 
 clearly see, nor with such facility understand, that we are 
 thereby prohibited from eating, or are allowed to eat, their 
 fruit or produce, — that is to say, their milk. The cause of 
 this " slowness of heart to believe," and unwillingness to 
 admit the force of this important truth, is obvious. In the 
 present depraved state of human appetite and human feel- 
 ing, we behold mankind everywhere around us, like so 
 many beasts of prey, tearing and devouring with the 
 greatest avidity the mangled limbs of butchered animals; 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 1*71 
 
 but had we been placed in community with the Brahmins 
 of Hindostan, and imbibed from infancy their mild and 
 humane principles, we should never have believed our- 
 selves tolerated, by the recorded distinction between the 
 clean and unclean in the Levitical Law, to feed on the 
 bodies of a portion of animated existence. For it is un- 
 questionably true that as in the case of " the tree of knowl- 
 edge" the fruit of the tree was meant, so in that of the 
 allowed and forbidden animals the milk of the clean was 
 allowed, but that of the unclean interdicted. 
 
 Were it here requisite, or if time permitted, we might 
 reason in a similar manner in relation to those animated 
 existences comprehended in the law that do not come 
 within the limits of the preceding remarks ; but our time 
 will not allow us to go into all the details of the matter. 
 Reasons, however, equally potent, and consistent with our 
 views of the vegetable character of the aliment of the 
 human species, can readily be assigned for all the distinc- 
 tions enumerated. 
 
 Another objection will probably be raised on the misap- 
 prehended testimony of the Bible respecting the sacrificial 
 worship of the Jews. It will perhaps be contended that 
 the Jews, by the command of Jehovah, offered animals 
 in sacrifice, and ate of their religious offerings. We are 
 ready to admit that they offered sacrifices, and ate of that 
 which was thus consecrated. But we have a few remarks 
 which forcibly tend, if we are not much mistaken, to show 
 that flesh-eating can derive no sanction from the Bible 
 account of sacrifices, especially when we are willing to listen 
 to a rational and consistent interpretation of these Jewish 
 ceremonies. Every one will be apt, on the first thought, 
 to wonder how so horrible a rite — an ordinance so re- 
 pugnant to some of the finest and strongest feelings of 
 human nature — as that of sacrificing innocent animals, 
 
H2 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 could ever have been tolerated among mankind, and es- 
 pecially by the then most civilized portion of them, for a 
 single moment ; much more, how it could have been so 
 extensively and constantly practiced among the various 
 nations of antiquity, as history seems to indicate was the 
 fact. We are of the number of those who do not believe 
 that the Israelites, in their integrity, ever offered living 
 animals in sacrifice, or that Jehovah commanded any such 
 rituals ; and we think our principles are borne out by 
 Scripture testimony. A satisfactory theory of the origin 
 and nature of sacrificial worship is among the great de- 
 siderata of modern religious science ; and surely it must be 
 agreeable to every intelligent and candid mind to contem- 
 plate so curious a subject in a light which invites and 
 gratifies the understanding rather than excites feelings of 
 horror. To enter fully, however, into inquiries necessary 
 to such an investigation would require a volume of itself; 
 a mere sketch, chiefly for the purpose of supporting our 
 statements, is all that we can here offer. 
 
 We will first see what the Scriptures say in relation to 
 animal sacrifices being commanded by Jehovah. I need 
 scarcely say the prevailing opinion upon this subject is 
 that they were instituted by Divine Appointment. But 
 David says, " Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I 
 give it; thoudelightestr?o£ in burnt-offerings; the sacrifices 
 of God are a broken spirit : a broken and a contrite heart, 
 O God, thou wilt not despise." The Prophet Hosea repre- 
 sents Jehovah as saying, " I desired mercy, and not sacri- 
 fice, and the knowledge of God, rather than burnt- offer- 
 ings." So also in Jeremiah, " I spake not unto your fathers, 
 nor commanded them, in that day I brought them out of 
 the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings and sacri- 
 fices ; but this thing I commanded them, saying, Obey my 
 voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people ; 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 173 
 
 and walk ye in the ways that I have commanded you, that 
 it may be well with you." Here we infer that animal 
 sacrifices were not of Divine appointment ; on the contrary, 
 as a portion of the fruits of their wickedness and hostility 
 to the Divine Will, it is emphatically declared, " I gave 
 them also statutes that were not good, and judgments by 
 which they ought not to live." In other words, he permitted 
 these statutes and rituals because of the hardness of their 
 hearts. 
 
 Authority equally perspicuous is susceptible of being 
 produced in proof that the Jews, during their faithfulness 
 to the commandments of their God, did not sacrifice liviDg 
 animals in their worship, — did not imbrue their hands, nor 
 stain their altars, with the blood of innocent beasts. Let 
 us simply consider the Bible account of the dedication of 
 the Temple ; let us view r the narrative, not according to 
 our prejudices, but in the light of impartial reason, and, 
 after maturely reflecting on all the circumstances, let us 
 solemnly ask ourselves whether popular opinion on this 
 subject can possibly be right. Who can tell us how one 
 hundred and twenty thousand sheep and twenty-two thou- 
 sand oxen could possibly be butchered and burned in one 
 day in the Temple then just built by Solomon ? Who can 
 tell us how such a number of animals could all be con- 
 sumed on an altar of small dimensions, made of wood and 
 overlaid with thin plates of metal ? Whence came all 
 these sheep and oxen, and the fuel necessary for the con- 
 sumption of their bodies ? The very act of numbering 
 the animals mentioned here as given by King Solomon at 
 this consecration, at the rate of one hundred and twenty 
 each minute, would occupy full nineteen hours and three- 
 quarters I How, then, w^e inquire, could they all be sac- 
 rificed and consumed in a single day ? Again, what kind 
 of conceptions must those persons have respecting the 
 
174 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 Great Jehovah, who seem seriously to believe that He was 
 delighted with the sacrificing of sheep and oxen, and 
 fancy that the stench of burnt flesh was a sweet-smelling 
 savor in his nostrils? Who can conceive that the mag- 
 nificent structure raised by Solomon, and consecrated to 
 the worship of Jehovah, could not be deemed an appro- 
 priate place for the manifestation of the Divine Purity, 
 until it became filled with the fumes of burning victims 
 and defiled with the filth and blood and garbage which 
 must obviously be the concomitants of such butchery ? 
 Would such a scene as the Temple must have presented, 
 if living sacrifices were really made, be calculated to in- 
 spire a congregation with devotional feelings ? Would it 
 not rather produce abhorrence and disgust? The sacri- 
 fices of the early Jews were no doubt widely different from 
 that view w T hich has been palmed on the world through 
 the darkness of human tradition, and which they doubt- 
 less offered in their perverted state. In the Scriptures the 
 names of animals are applied to vessels made of their 
 respective skins, and used in sacrifices ; to moneys, stamped 
 with their appropriate figures, and brought to the Temple 
 as offerings; to pasti-y images of animals, made of fine 
 flour and other ingredients as specified in the Levitical 
 Law ; to human beings, and to individual spirits or socie- 
 ties, as seen above by Prophets, Apostles, and other holy 
 men of old, enveloped in bestial spheres. We merely add, 
 that the sheep and the oxen offered by Solomon at this 
 consecration were doubtless pieces of money of the value 
 of the animal with whose image they were impressed and 
 by whose name they were designated. 
 
 We come now to the testimony as it is recorded in the 
 Gospel Dispensation in relation to the subject of our inves- 
 tigation. And here, my Christian friends, let us not de- 
 ceive ourselves by imagining, as some have done, that 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 175 
 
 Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our Salvation, 
 came into the world to abrogate or destroy the law or the 
 Prophets, as given under a previous dispensation. " I 
 came not to destroy, but to fulfill." Neither let us erro- 
 neously conclude that the Gospel develops a system of 
 legislation differing in any of its essential principles from 
 that order instituted by Infinite Wisdom from the very 
 creation of the world. " With him there is no variable- 
 ness, nor even a shadow of changing." He never departs 
 from the laws of Divine order which He immutably estab- 
 lished at the beginning. The Gospel, in our apprehension, 
 is simply the manifestation of those means, always pro- 
 vided of the Divine mercy of the Lord, by which the 
 children of men, degenerate as they had even then become, 
 might be restored to that felicity which, through trans- 
 gression, they had unhappily lost; that they might be re- 
 exalted to that estate from which, through sin, they had 
 lamentably fallen. The effect of those means, in the re- 
 newal and restoration of Human Nature, is fully exem- 
 plified in the history of the Redemption and Glorification 
 of that nature by Jesus Christ. " He came that He might 
 save, and that He might save unto the uttermost." But 
 you will call to mind that in the renovation of our nature, 
 which He assumed, He observed the law, He fulfilled 
 even that primitive law first given to man. " He was a 
 Nazarite from the womb." " Butter and honey shall He 
 eat," says the Prophet, " that He may know to choose the 
 good and to reject the evil." If such is the kind of testi- 
 mony presented in the Gospel, is it not the duty of his 
 followers to walk in his footsteps, and imitate with all their 
 ability his bright and glorious example ? His forerunner, 
 John the Baptist, the messenger to prepare his way before 
 him, lived on locusts (the fruit of the locust-tree) and 
 wild honey; and yet it is emphatically said of him that "of 
 
176 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 those born of woman there has not arisen a greater than 
 John." "Be ye wise as serpents," says our Redeemer, 
 when instructing his disciples, " and harmless as doves." 
 The serpent is described by naturalists as one of the most 
 watchful of all animated existences ; and the dove as an 
 innocent and inoffensive creature, that feeds only on the 
 productions of the vegetable world. Such, then, it appears 
 to us, should the followers of the meek and humble Jesus 
 be ; such the circumspection of character, and such the 
 dietetic conduct, of all his faithful followers. 
 
 Soon after the commencement of the Christian Church 
 the Apostles held a council, whence was subsequently pro- 
 mulgated a decree to the churches, composed principally 
 at that period of Gentile converts. In that important 
 document, the members of the first Christian Council 
 declare, "It seemeth good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, 
 to lay upon you no greater burthen than these neces- 
 sary things : that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, 
 and from blood [that is, the blood of the grape, in your 
 religious feasts, when rendered intoxicating by fermenta- 
 tion], and from things strangled," or, in other words, 
 "which have suffered a violent death." But do not all 
 animals which fall a sacrifice to the butcher's knife suffer 
 a violent death ? Are we not, then, as Christians, enjoined 
 to abstain from eating such things, as a necessary part 
 of our "obedience unto the faith"? The light in which 
 the Apostle Paul apprehended this decree is easily per- 
 ceived. He was a member of the Council, and subse- 
 quently one of those deputed by its authority to deliver 
 the decree to the churches. He voluntarily took upon 
 him the fulfillment of the delegated duty, and his declara- 
 tions to the churches are remarkable. u It is good," says 
 he, "neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine." Did the 
 Apostle to the Gentiles not understand the will of the 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 177 
 
 Council ? It will scarcely be contended that, in announcing 
 it to be good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, he tran- 
 scended his powers or that he misrepresented the senti- 
 ments of this primitive Christian Council. Such an in- 
 ference will not readily find a place in any mind wishful 
 to see the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 It is said that Peter, James, and John were fishermen, 
 with Zebedee their father ; and yet, says the justly cele- 
 brated Calmet, " they never ate either fish or flesh or 
 fowl." In brief, Christian friends, there are many testi- 
 monies tending to induce the belief that the doctrine for 
 which we are contending was that maintained by the whole 
 Christian Church for upwards of two hundred years. 
 Philo, accordingly, in writing of the Christians of his own 
 time, says, " They not only abstain from eating flesh, but 
 none can be found among them that voluntarily engage 
 in manufacturing darts, arrows, swords, helmets, breast- 
 plates, nor even such weapons as might be converted to 
 bad purposes in time of peace ; much less do any of them 
 engage in war or its arts.' 7 
 
 In opposition to our views, the language of our Re- 
 deemer, as delivered to the Pharisees, will probably be 
 cited : " Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the 
 man." But does any one seriously imagine, and really 
 believe, that our Saviour, by this declaration, meant to 
 give full license to gluttony and intemperance, or that his 
 followers might eat or drink anything with impunity which 
 the law of God had forbidden to be used? The sense in 
 which these words were intended to be understood must 
 be attained by a consideration of the reason and the oc- 
 casion of their being spoken. The context informs us 
 that the Pharisees, being offended, murmured at the dis- 
 ciples of Jesus for sitting down to meat with unwashed 
 hands. In answer to their mitrmuring, Jesus said, "Not 
 
 16 
 
178 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 that which goeth into the mouth defileth," etc. In other 
 words, not any little soil taken into the mouth by eating 
 with unwashed hands can be said to defile the man. This, 
 we apprehend, is the plain and obvious meaning of the 
 passage. It is further worthy of remark that these words 
 were spoken about twenty years prior to the apostolic 
 decree to which we have already directed your attention ; 
 and it is not probable the apostles would make a decree 
 directly in contradiction to the declaration of Him whose 
 cause they advocated^ and by whose authority they had 
 stood forth as the champions of the Gospel dispensation. 
 
 The vision of Peter, as recorded in the Acts of the 
 Apostles, is often adduced by those who would sustain 
 the flesh-eating system, as proof indubitable that man is 
 sanctioned by the Christian Scriptures in eating flesh. 
 The language recorded as addressed to Peter on that 
 occasion is, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." But, before we 
 acquiesce in such an interpretation, let us first inquire, if 
 Peter was directed by this vision and this language to kill 
 and eat animals and other reptile existences, did he do as 
 he was commanded ? He certainly did not ; for, after 
 being exhibited before him three times in succession, he ex- 
 pressly says, they " were all drawn up again into heaven.' 7 
 Let us again inquire whether there is anything like rea- 
 sonableness in concluding that living animals, of flesh and 
 blood, were actually let down from heaven in a sheet, 
 when we are assured that flesh and blood cannot enter 
 the kingdom of heaven. Again let us ask, What in- 
 struction did Peter derive from this vision ? "Of a 
 truth," says he, "I perceive that God is no respecter of 
 persons; but that iri every nation, he that feareth Him 
 and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him." Thus, 
 as the testimony appear*? to us, Peter learned not to call 
 any man common or uno-ean. He was taught to look 
 
INTO THE LIGHT, 1*79 
 
 upon the animal appearances exhibited to his view as 
 representatives of the Gentile nations ; but we have no 
 reason to believe he learned anything by this vision re- 
 specting killing cattle or eating flesh, or that he was 
 intended to derive any such instruction from the vision. 
 Peter, in common with the rest of the Jews, was preju- 
 diced against the Gentiles ; by this vision his prejudice 
 was corrected, for after it he went in to eat sacrament ally 
 with men that were uncircumcised, on their becoming 
 Christians, — God having in this way taught him so to do< 
 The rendering of the language to Peter is, "Rise, Peter, 
 consecrate and eaV 1 
 
 "0 mortals! from the flesh of beasts abstain, 
 Nor taint your bodies with a food profane; 
 While corn and pulse by nature are bestowed, 
 And planted orchards bend their willing load; 
 While labored gardens wholesome herbs produce, 
 And teeming vines afford their gen'rous juice: 
 Nor tardier fruits of cruder kind are lost, 
 But tamed by heat or mellowed by the frost; 
 While kine to pails distended udders bring, 
 And bees their honey redolent of Spring; 
 While earth not only can your needs supply, 
 But, lavish of her store, provides for luxury; 
 A guiltless feast administers with ease, 
 And without blood, is prodigal to please." 
 
 It will also be objected, especially in regard to fish, that 
 our Saviour fed the multitude with loaves and fishes, that 
 He ate of a broiled fish and a honey-comb, and that several 
 of his disciples were fishermen. To this we reply with 
 all possible brevity, — first, that there are various sorts 
 of fishermen, as pearl-fishers, coral-fishers, fishers of sub- 
 marine and water-plants of various kinds, as well as of the 
 living or animal fish; and secondly, that the term used 
 for fish in the Gospel does not mean fish in its common 
 
180 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 acceptation. Parkhurst, in his Greek Lexicon, says, 
 and his authority will be duly respected, "It seems not 
 very natural to understand the Greek word opsarion 
 (John xxi. 9) as signifying fish. It signifies some other 
 kind of provision, of the delicious sort, that may be eaten 
 with bread." In short, we believe there is reasonable 
 ground for our argument that the Scriptures, rightly in- 
 terpreted, do not sanction the eating of either fish or flesh 
 or fowl. There is, we believe, testimony sufficient in 
 them as they are, to raise doubts in inquiring minds; and 
 the apostle says, " He that doubteth is condemned if he 
 eat; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." 
 
 Lastly, Christianity inculcates self-denial as one of 
 the duties of her votaries ; a term that denotes a relinquish- 
 ment of everything that stands in opposition to the Divine 
 commands, or that would be detrimental to their spiritual 
 welfare. She calls upon her followers to deny themselves 
 and take up their cross daily. She entreats them to mor- 
 tify the body with its deeds ; to shun fleshly lusts, to avoid 
 luxury, intemperance, and gluttony, and whatever is done, 
 that it be done in the fullness of faith, without doubting, 
 and in the fear of the Lord. She represents the blessings 
 of Eternal Life as attainable only by keeping the com- 
 mandments. She exhorts her believers to be humane and 
 merciful, as their Father in the heavens is merciful ; to 
 mortify the fleshly mind, which is ever contrary to the 
 mind of Christ ; to keep the body under subjection to the 
 precepts of the Gospel ; not to live to the flesh, but in all 
 things, whether they eat or drink r or whatsoever they do, 
 that it be done to the glory of their heavenly Father. 
 She calls upon her followers peremptorily to renounce all 
 those pleasures of sense, worldly examples, and unhallowed 
 practices that are prejudicial to their physical well-being, 
 or injurious to the spiritual interests of immortal souls. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 181 
 
 And shall Christianity hold out to us these blessed truths 
 of our holy religion in vain ? Shall we continue rebellious 
 to her purifying and heavenly doctrine of self-denial? 
 Shall we be unwilling to take up our cross, to die daily to 
 an indulgence in the pleasures of an over-excited sensa- 
 tion, whether arising from eating flesh or drinking vrine? 
 Shall we not be ready "to present our bodies, a living 
 sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is indeed but 
 our reasonable service"? Shall we not labor with all dili- 
 gence, by living according to the order of our nature and 
 the commandments of our God, to attain unto that holi- 
 ness of spirit without which no man can see God ; and 
 even strive to prepare our very bodies, that they may be- 
 come appropriate " temples of the Holy Spirit" ? Shall 
 the voice of Humanity, Reason, and Christianity plead 
 with us to no purpose ? Shall we continue to make a god 
 of our appetites, and not turn from following the corrupt- 
 ing example of " riotous eaters of flesh"? 
 
 Christian friends, let us endeavor to impress the im- 
 portance of this subject upon our minds. Let us ever 
 remember that all religion which does not produce its ap- 
 propriate effect upon the life is futile and useless, — mere 
 vanity and vexation of spirit, instead of life and peace in 
 the Holy Spirit. Let us never forget that one of the most 
 exalted attributes of the Christian is that of consistency 
 in practical life with the theoretic principles he professes. 
 It is this which pre-eminently distinguishes the devout 
 and sincere professor from the common mass of mankind. 
 Let us bear in mind that to us most especially, my 
 Christian friends, the world turns for such an example ; 
 that to us pure and undefiled religion calls for such a con- 
 duct; to the consistency of our practice with the clemency 
 and humanity of our profession, as believers in the Bible- 
 Testimony, that it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink 
 
 16* 
 
182 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 wine, bleeding Christianity looks as her only refuge. Let 
 her not look in vain. Stand for the cause of Truth against 
 all the efforts of those "who live to the flesh." Stand as 
 the soldiers of your Redeemer, in the blessed armor of the 
 Gospel, with the shield of faith and the breastplate of 
 righteousness, having for a helmet the hope of salvation, 
 and girded with the sword of the Spirit, which is the 
 Word of God. Yet contend not, my Christian friends, 
 in the temper of angry controversy, for the battle is the 
 Lord's, and He demands of us the spirit of meekness and 
 holiness, the spirit of supplication and prayer, the spirit 
 of a diligent co-operation with Him, the spirit of benevo- 
 lence and an affectionate solicitude for the souls of all men. 
 Fear not, then, that the rays of this heavenly doctrine, if 
 faithfully mirrored in the lives of our little community, will 
 be wholly lost in the darkness that surrounds us on this 
 subject. In such case we shall know and feel that we 
 have strength and power from on High; and Ave cannot 
 doubt that the sober wishes of the moral, the intellectual, 
 and the virtuous, of every creed, will always be with us. 
 We are not, indeed, to expect that immediate and complete 
 success is to crown our infantile exertions in this self- 
 sacrificing cause. The storm and the whirlwind of human 
 prejudices and erroneous sentiments must first pass by be- 
 fore the still, small voice of Christian clemency, meek-eyed 
 mercy, and childlike humanity can be beneficially heard. 
 Our aim is not violently to snatch the fatal knife from the 
 bloody hands of the butcher, nor ruthlessly to tear the 
 feast of death from the teeth of the riotous eaters of flesh. 
 Our high object is to instruct, to correct general sentiment, 
 and to determine the principles of public habits so as to 
 cherish universal humanity; believing that in proportion 
 as the minds of the moral and intellectual among our 
 fellow-mortals are sufficiently awakened to the importance 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 183 
 
 of the dietetics of the Bible, they will withdraw themselves 
 from a system of cruel habits, which involves a portion of 
 the animal creation in needless suffering and untimely 
 death, and which has unquestionably a baneful effect upon 
 the physical existence and the intellectual, moral, and 
 religious powers of man. 
 
 In conclusion, my Christian friends, if we would seek 
 to invigorate and expand the principles of our own faith, 
 or be instrumental in effecting the conversion of others, 
 let us not confide in our own strength, but rather look 
 unto Him who is the author and finisher of our salvation, 
 and who alone knoweth the unruly wills and darkened 
 understandings of sinful men, for his blessing on our 
 feeble labors. Let us remember that the most convincing 
 argument is the spectacle of a pure and consistent exam- 
 ple ; that while controversy, uninfluenced by prayer, has 
 a natural tendencv to irritate and inflame, to increase the 
 obstinacy of prejudice, and rivet the stubbornness of self- 
 will, devotion will frequently soften, kindness will con- 
 ciliate, and affection will reclaim. 
 
 And now, may his blessing for the future so guide our 
 course and prosper our efforts that we may find cause to 
 rejoice in the extension of pure and undefiled religion, and 
 not only experience its increasing influence within our own 
 souls, but behold its present growth among our fellow- 
 mortals, until every domestic hearth shall have its altar; 
 until the Word and Spirit of the Most High shall govern 
 our country and the world; until carnal-mindedness, in- 
 humanity, vice, and profanity, intemperance, wretchedness, 
 and immorality, shall vanish, the whole earth be filled with 
 the knowledge of the Lord, and the period come when, 
 according to Jehovah, by his Prophet, "They shall 
 neither hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain" ! 
 
184 OUT OF THE CLOUDS 
 
 DISCOURSE XL 
 
 ON THE SACRIFICES OF THE JEWS. 
 I. Kings viii. 62 to the end. 
 
 Under, the Jewish dispensation it was customary for 
 the people of that Church to make use of various rituals 
 and ceremonials in their religious worship ; rituals which 
 appear to us to be a strange and an incongruous method 
 of worshiping a Being of Infinite Mercy, Benevolence, and 
 Love. The prominence of animal sacrifices in their reli- 
 gious and devotional exercises is so evidently set forth in 
 the sacred pages as to have impressed many with the idea 
 that such worship was commanded by Jehovah ; and yet 
 the varied sacrifices of innocent animals, as is generally 
 supposed, are of a character so repugnant to his Divine 
 Attributes, and so contrary to the purest and strongest 
 feelings of our nature, that we are astonished to think how 
 such a practice could ever have been tolerated by any 
 people having the smallest claims to civilization and 
 humanity; and we are prompted to inquire, Why were 
 sacrifices instituted ? And what do they mean ? The word 
 sacrifice literally means what is devoted to God, — made 
 holy, or consecrated to his service. 
 
 The first observation which impresses our minds when 
 we read of worship by sacrifice, is that such worship, like 
 all the other customs of the Jewish services, was sym- 
 bolical of the nature of that spiritual devotion which is 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 185 
 
 required to be offered in the Lord's spiritual Church. As 
 Christians, we are to do what was typified or represented 
 by the Jews, and by Solomon, when he and they brought 
 their gifts and offerings to their altars. These were their 
 dedications of good things to the Lord, according to their 
 sacred rites of worship. Their rites and ceremonies were 
 all emblems of things spiritual ; of things that are to be 
 done by us in the Lord's Christian Church. They had 
 an altar which w^as an emblem of the Lord Himself; and 
 to this altar they anciently brought offerings of fruit, 
 bread, wine, and other things ; and these dedicated objects 
 they called offerings or gifts. The act of offering them 
 was typical of the spiritual worship we should offer to the 
 Lord our God. They were called gifts or presents, be- 
 cause they were tokens of love to the Lord, good will and 
 friendship to man : they testified a desire to establish cer- 
 tain relations between the parties, or rather to maintain 
 the relations which should exist between those who 
 offered and those who received the gifts, — relations which 
 should exist between men and their God, — a desire to 
 acknowledge Him as the Author and Giver of life, and the 
 Source of every good; an acknowledgment that He should 
 rule and reign in the minds and lives of men, and that 
 men should dedicate themselves to Him as his people and 
 servants. All this is Divine worship; and we perform 
 such worship when, as Christians, we engage in pious ex- 
 ercises, — when we pray and praise the Lord, reverence 
 and worship Him at various times, and in various ways. 
 Our Sabbath days are more especially times when we 
 come together with offerings to the altar of the Lord. We 
 come, or should come, with offerings of penitence, and sac- 
 rifices of broken and contrite hearts. Our offerings, gifts, 
 or sacrifices are either accepted or they are not. Our 
 Sabbath worship in the Lord's Temple, like every act of 
 
186 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 piety, is always accepted, if it be true and genuine ; with- 
 out these qualifications it is non-accepted. Before the 
 ritual law was given to the children of Israel, it is evi- 
 dent that they were in the habit of offering sacrifices in 
 the wilderness ; for immediately after coming up out 
 of Egypt, while Moses was gone up on Mount Sinai, 
 to receive the Law, and before its annunciation to the 
 people, they had made a molten calf, erected an altar, 
 and had offered burnt-offerings upon it. That the cus- 
 tom of offering sacrifices was at that time prevalent also 
 among the Gentile nations is obvious, for it is recorded 
 that when the idolatrous priest, Balaam, of the city 
 of Pethor, was consulted by Balak, king of Moab, he 
 commanded the king three times to build him seven 
 altars, and to offer a bullock and a ram upon each altar. 
 From profane history it is also an undisputed fact, that the 
 custom of offering sacrifices was of general prevalence 
 among all the ancient heathen nations. We are authorized, 
 therefore, in concluding that the custom of offering sacri- 
 fices did not originate at the time when the laws relating 
 to sacrificial worship were given to the Jewish Church 
 from Mount Sinai, but that it had an origin earlier even 
 than the existence of that nation ; and also that the prac- 
 tice of offering sacrifices was by no means confined to the 
 Jews, but that it was a practice which prevailed gener- 
 ally throughout the various nations of the Gentile world. 
 On various occasions we have stated that we did not 
 believe the ancients, in the performance of their religious 
 ceremonies and during their integrity, ever butchered and 
 offered animals that had lived and breathed, and tasted of 
 the sweets of life ; or that Jehovah ever commanded or 
 approved any such cruelties in coming before Him. It is 
 universally allowed that in the earliest ages of the world 
 the religious sacrificial ceremonies of most other nations 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 18? 
 
 consisted principally in their offerings of fruits, bread, and 
 wine before God, Such was the offering of Melchizedec, 
 of which Abraham partook. Ancient history also informs 
 us that offerings of bread, wine, oil, and even milk, were in 
 use at an early period among the Romans, and that at their 
 sacrificial festivals they presented their libations in cups 
 or vessels beautifully modeled and finished, and bearing 
 the name of the ram or other animal whose head was em- 
 bossed thereon. It is well known also to persons ac- 
 quainted with ancient history, that the Athenians had a 
 coin called ox, from the figure of that animal enstamped 
 upon it, The Romans had a coin on which the impress 
 of a sheep was marked, thence it is called pecunia. This 
 ingenious substitute of coin for living animals the Romans 
 might have derived, says Dr. Gregory, from the Hebrews, 
 to whom the pastoral life was more eminently peculiar, 
 and who applied the names of certain animals to the vessels 
 used in their sacrificial ceremonies, in their tabernacles, 
 and in the Temple, and likewise to moneys or coins stamped 
 with their appropriate figures. The offerings made by 
 Solomon of one hundred and twenty thousand sheep and 
 hventy-two thousand oxen on the day of the dedication of 
 his beautiful Temple, we are persuaded, were not living 
 animals, presented to be butchered and burned in a place 
 constructed and solemnly consecrated to purity and holi- 
 ness, but pieces of money, of the value of the animal with 
 whose image they were respectively impressed, and by 
 whose name they were also designated. Let us briefly 
 consider the Bible account of this dedication of the Temple. 
 Let us view the narrative not according to our prejudices, 
 but in the light of science, history, and religion, and after 
 maturely reflecting on all the evidence, let us solemnly 
 ask ourselves whether the popular notion on the subject 
 of animal sacrifices can possibly be right. Who can tell 
 
188 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 us how one hundred and twenty thousand sheep and 
 twenty-two thousand oxen could possibly be sacrificed, 
 and their bodies consumed, or, as others say, cooked, in 
 one day in the Temple then just built by Solomon ? 
 
 If animals were intended for the food of mankind, why 
 such a useless waste ? If not, why so great a destruc- 
 tion of animal life and enjoyment? Who can tell us how 
 such a number of animals could all be consumed on one 
 altar made of wood and only overlaid with thin plates of 
 metal ? Whence came all these sheep and oxen, and the 
 fuel necessary for the consumption of their bodies ? 
 
 Other believers in Divine Revelation, we are aware, have 
 a different opinion respecting the Scripture sacrifices. They 
 conceive these sacrifices were living animals, and that the 
 Temple was little other than a splendid slaughter-house. 
 A correct view of the origin and nature of sacrificial wor- 
 ship that should present a symbolical and spiritual develop- 
 ment of the subject, would doubtless be exceedingly grati- 
 fying and instructive to minds inquiring after the truth. 
 In the language of Job, then, on a different occasion, we 
 venture to say to our hearers this morning, " Hearken unto 
 me, I also will show you my opinion." These sacrifices 
 of the Bible have long been considered in the religious 
 world as all pointing to the crucifixion and bodily death 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, as typical of what is called 
 the great sacrifice which He offered of Himself for the 
 sins of the world, in suffering Himself to die, in order, as 
 they say, to appease the wrath of his Father and to 
 satisfy the claims of his Divine justice, and by this means 
 to open a way of pardon from God for guilty man, 
 through faith in his atoning blood. But from the testi- 
 mony of the Bible it appears that sacrifice was never 
 required, but that obedience to the truth was and is : 
 " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears 
 
WTO TEE LIGHT. 189 
 
 hast thou opened : burnt-offering and sin-offering hast 
 thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the 
 volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do 
 thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." 
 (Psalm xl. 6-8.) This is said even of the great sacrifice 
 of Christ itself; it was not desired, it was not required. 
 But all that was required or desired in the Divine law was 
 devotion in his heart. Now, this was required, and to 
 devote himself to the will of God was his delight. That 
 we are not mistaken in our application of this passage to 
 the Lord Himself, may be seen by its quotation and ap- 
 plication to Him in ttie Apostle Paul's Epistle to the 
 Hebrews : " Wherefore when He cometh into the world, 
 He saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a 
 body hast thou prepared me : in burnt-offerings and sacri- 
 fices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, 
 I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to 
 do thy will, O God." In the next verse it is said, " Sacri- 
 fice and offering and burnt-offerings and offering for sin 
 thou wouldst not." In the verse after it is repeated: 
 " Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." 
 (Hebrews x. 5-9.) So plainly are we assured that doing 
 the Divine will, not sacrifice for sin, even in the case of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, is that which is required. And, 
 lest the matter should be overlooked, it is several times 
 repeated. It doubtless behooved Christ to suffer as a 
 thing permitted, but not as a matter of requisition. So 
 also the Jewish sacrifices, whatever may have been their 
 nature, were permitted, not commanded, not required. 
 That people's obedience was required, but sacrifice was 
 not. For says the Psalmist, " Thou desirest not sacri- 
 fice ; else would I give it : thou delightest not in burnt- 
 offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit." 
 (Psalm li. 16, 11.) Solomon in the Proverbs (xxi. 3) 
 
 17 
 
190 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 says, " To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to 
 the Lord than sacrifice.' 7 This matter is also expressly 
 decided in Hosea (vi. 6): "For I desired mercy and not 
 sacrifice ; and the knowledge of God more than burnt- 
 offerings." In the Gospel it is recorded that one of the 
 scribes put this question to our Lord, " Which is the 
 first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The 
 first of all the commandments is, Hear, Israel ; the 
 Lord our God is one Lord : and thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
 with all thy mind, and with all thy strength : this is 
 the first commandment. And the second is like unto it, 
 namely, this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
 There is none other commandment greater than these. 
 And the scribe said unto Him, Well, Master, thou hast 
 said the truth : for there is one God ; and there is none 
 other but He : and to love Him with all the heart, and 
 with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and 
 with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as Himself, 
 is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices. 
 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He 
 said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of 
 God." (Mark xii. 28-31.) The scribe was discreet in 
 placing the love of God and our neighbor above all whole 
 burnt-offerings and sacrifices. He was, consequently, no 
 advocate of a vicarious atonement, and yet our Lord 
 sanctioned his discreet answer. The Sacred Scriptures 
 are, indeed, remarkably uniform in their representation of 
 •the permissive nature of the Jewish sacrifices. It is said 
 in the Prophet Jeremiah, " Thus says the Lord of hosts, 
 the God of Israel: I spake not unto }^our fathers, nor com- 
 manded them in the day that I brought them up out of 
 the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings and sacri- 
 fices: but this thing 1 commanded them, saying, Obey my 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 191 
 
 voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people." 
 (vii. 21-23.) 
 
 In the fiftieth Psalm (8-15) : "I will not reprove thee 
 for thy sacrifices, or thy burnt-offerings, to have been con- 
 tinually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy 
 house, nor he-goats out of thy folds. For every beast of 
 the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 
 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild 
 beasts of the forests are mine. If I were hungry, I would 
 not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness 
 thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of 
 goats ? Offer unto God thanksgiving ; and pay thy vows 
 to the Most High." In this passage sacrifices and burnt- 
 offerings are disclaimed ; but the offering of thanksgiving 
 is required. In Isaiah (i. 11-14) we read: " To what 
 purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith 
 the Lord : I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and 
 the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of 
 bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to ap- 
 pear before me, who hath required this at your hands, to 
 tread my courts ? Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is 
 an abomination unto me; your new moons and your ap- 
 pointed feasts my soul hateth ; they are a trouble unto 
 me; I am weary to bear them." 
 
 The numerous passages we have now repeated to you, 
 Christian friends, are abundantly sufficient to show that 
 the Jewish sacrifices were not required or appointed, but 
 that, like the law of divorce, they were "permitted, be- 
 cause of the hardness of their hearts." Neither are they 
 typical of a vicarious sacrifice for sin, in order to render 
 God propitious, and willing to bless his people. 
 
 We maintain that living animals were not originally 
 sacrificed. But whether the Jews offered in sacrifices the 
 slain bodies of animals, which had lived, breathed, and 
 
192 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 enjoyed life, or whether their sacrifices were of a different 
 character, they did what was not required, and in the 
 case of animal sacrifices they did what was absolutely 
 wrong. They had no authority from the Almighty to 
 inflict pain or take away the life of any of his sentient 
 creatures. 
 
 "When man his sacrifice of beasts began, 
 He also forged the sword to murder man." 
 
 The names of the animals mentioned in the Bible as 
 having been used in sacrifices are lambs, sheep, oxen, 
 goats or kids, turtle-doves, and pigeons. A consideration 
 of the typical character of each will assist us in the under- 
 standing of the subject, The Lamb is named in the Word 
 of God as the symbol of innocence, and it is so expressive 
 of this virtue that it is almost a household word. Sheep 
 are the types of the gentle principles of Charity, or sym- 
 pathizing brotherly love. Oxen are the types of the dis- 
 positions to duty and obedience. The ox was the animal 
 anciently used for plowing, an operation spiritually typical 
 of the preparation of the soul to receive the knowledge of 
 heavenly truths. The goat, whose delight is in leaping 
 from rock to rock, is the symbol of a disposition in the 
 man of the Church to regard the truths of Faith with 
 great pleasure. Birds, from their soaring power, are the 
 symbols of intetlectual thoughts. Turtle-doves and pigeons 
 are the types of those tender thoughts, and that yearning 
 after the heavenly life, which the soul experiences in the 
 early part of its regeneration. 
 
 All these types, then, of good affections and heavenly 
 thoughts, abundantly confirm the view we have drawn 
 from the Sacred Scriptures that the sacrifices, bearing the 
 names of birds and animals, represented the good things 
 and principles dedicated to the Lord by true believers, 
 in their worship of his glorious Being. The nature and 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 193 
 
 quality of the worship, which men render to the Lord in 
 all ages, are always according to the state of their thoughts 
 and affections, and to the idea which they form of the 
 Divine Character. When mankind became natural and 
 carnal, they also became external in the quality of their 
 worship. And it was then, and not till then, that they 
 began actually to kill, and to offer in sacrifice, those ani- 
 mals the names of which, in a state of higher intelligence 
 and purity, had been used simply as types or emblems of 
 those spiritual thoughts and affections in which all true 
 worship ever consists. Such, we believe, is the Scripture 
 view of the nature and origin of offering burnt-offerings 
 and sacrifices. 
 
 But it may be asked why the Jews, a people selected 
 by the Divine Being to be the medium of a Divine Reve- 
 lation, were apparently commanded, but in reality only 
 permitted, to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings to God. 
 
 We have shown that the practice of sacrificing had an 
 existence among them before the giving of the Law. The 
 command, therefore, for them to offer sacrifices was given 
 in consideration of their mental condition or spiritual 
 degradation, and it is to be regarded as merely a per- 
 mission. Being themselves so carnal as to be incapable 
 of understanding the nature of spiritual worship, they 
 were mere performers of external rites and ceremonies, 
 which were so regulated by the laws in the Levitical 
 book as to represent correctly true spiritual worship by 
 symbols or analogies. They were selected that they 
 might be the medium of giving to the world the external 
 representative form of spiritual principles and a spiritual 
 religion. In this sense only were they a chosen people, — 
 chosen as the agents by whom there might be given to the 
 world a representative form of true spiritual worship, — 
 that the Word might be given by analogy or correspond- 
 
 17* 
 
194 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 ences for the use of the future Church. When thus set 
 apart or chosen, their custom of sacrificing was not pro- 
 hibited, but restricted and regulated by a code of cere- 
 monial laws and ritual observances as recorded in the 
 Mosaic institutions. They were strictly forbidden to offer 
 any animal in sacrifice which was not a true type or em- 
 blem of the pure and spiritual affection required to' be 
 exercised by the spiritual worshiper in the circumstances 
 of the offering. They were permitted to offer only those 
 beasts and birds from the animal kingdom, and those 
 offerings from the vegetable world, which were the true 
 types of good affections and intellectual thoughts. On one 
 occasion they were required to offer an ox; on another, a 
 ram, or a goat ; on another, oil, flour, or incense ; yet the 
 occasion and the circumstances of the offering were always 
 such as according to the law of analogy called for the 
 specific offering, or the exercise towards God of that 
 peculiar affection of the mind which was thus typically 
 represented by the object sacrificed. 
 
 Such, Christian friends, was the principle in accord- 
 ance with which the custom of offering sacrifices originated 
 •and was restricted and regulated in the Jewish Church. • 
 
 For the sake of the Church in after-ages, these sacri- 
 fices which they were permitted to offer were restricted by 
 the Mosaic law, and so regulated as to represent truly, by 
 analogy or symbol, the spiritual affection which was at 
 first, and ought ever to have been, the real offering pre- 
 sented, and the offering which would in the future be 
 presented, when mankind under a new dispensation would 
 form a true idea of the character and attributes of God, 
 and thus be able to understand the nature of that sincere 
 spiritual worship which alone is truly acceptable unto 
 Him. 
 
 As we, then, beloved, endeavor to follow the Lord in 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 195 
 
 the renewal of our lives, and as we advance from natural to 
 spiritual mindedness, the ceremonial law of the Jews will 
 receive its fulfillment individually in our own minds. We 
 shall learn to offer in our worship those thoughts and 
 affections which were outwardly represented in the rites 
 and ceremonies of the external sacrificial worship of the 
 Jewish Church, and at the dedication of Solomon's Temple. 
 We learn by experience, also, that in order to follow the 
 Lord we are every one of us required, as Bible-Christians, to 
 consecrate unto Him all our natural affections and desires ; 
 and even to offer our very bodies as living sacrifices, holy 
 and acceptable unto God, which is (^as it should be trans- 
 lated) our spiritual worship. 
 
 Looking in this manner at Solomon's sacrifices, and at 
 the ritual laws of the Mosaic institutions, we can see as 
 in an image what the burnt-offerings and sacrifices of the 
 Jews represented, as applied to the Redemption and glori- 
 fication of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. They 
 represented not a vicarious sacrifice, but the consecration of 
 all the affections and desires of the assumed human nature 
 to the Divine nature, from and by which it was assumed, 
 for God was in Christ; the offering up and hallowing to 
 the Essential Divinity of every affection and desire of the 
 assumed humanity ; and, finally, the offering up of the 
 assumed humanity itself, as a living sacrifice, to the Es- 
 sential Divinity within Him, so that it, i.e. the assumed 
 human or manhood of Jesus Christ, not his material, 
 murdered body, became the brightness of God's glory 
 and the express image of his person, — the Way, the 
 Truth, the Life, — for in the face of the glorified Lord 
 and Saviour, Jesus Christ, shines forth, to the compre- 
 hension of his people, all the fullness of the Godhead 
 bodily. 
 
 In this sense our Lord offered Himself as a sacrifice for 
 
196 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 the sins of the world. Instead of performing outwardly 
 the ritual, sacrificial worship of the Jewish Church, He 
 performed inwardly and spiritually, until He had offered 
 up every affection , every desire and thought of the human 
 assumed, and in this spiritual way had consecrated the 
 entire human nature, as a temple; as a Lamb that was 
 slain without spot or blemish, by whose blood we are 
 redeemed to God ; blood meaning not that which was 
 wickedly shed on Mount Calvary from his material body, 
 but blood, the emblem of the Divine Truth, which He 
 continuously imparts for the sanctification and salvation of 
 his people. Hence, again, the symbolic language, "Except 
 ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink of his blood 
 [that is, appropriate of his Divine Love and Truth to the 
 nourishment of your souls], ye have no life in you." 
 
 Beloved, the Christian emblematical sacrifice or sacra- 
 ment here prepared is the token of the marriage covenant 
 between the Bridegroom and his Church. You are in- 
 vited in the language of our Redeemer Himself: " As often 
 as you come together, do this in remembrance of me." 
 From the nature of our remarks in this discourse, you 
 will readily see that by the Lord's body or flesh is repre- 
 sented and meant the bread of life,—M the good that 
 gives spiritual life to our souls ; coming down from heaven, 
 transmitted from the Lord to all who come unto Him in 
 the spirit of love and obedience. You will also perceive 
 that by the Lord's blood is meant the blood of the new 
 covenant, the Divine Truth proceeding from his all-glorious 
 person, shed for the many, revealed in his Holy Word to all 
 who believe on Him, — who acknowledge and obey Him as 
 the Only Wise God, our Saviour, the Way, the Truth, the 
 Life. " Blessed are they that come to the marriage 
 supper of the Lamb." Amen. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 197 
 
 DISCOURSE XII. 
 
 ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 
 Exodus xix. 16, etc. 
 
 We purpose directing the attention of our hearers to 
 a few remarks intended to illustrate those sacred laws de- 
 livered to Moses on Mount Sinai, by the voice of Jehovah, 
 amidst the most solemn and extraordinary scenes ever pre- 
 sented to the world. When we read of the tremendous pre- 
 ludes to the announcement of those Ten Commandments, 
 which were given to direct innumerable millions of beings, 
 and intended to govern the whole brotherhood of man, the 
 circumstances should impress our minds, and lead us to 
 desire to know their inexpressible importance. 
 
 It is very generally imagined that the thunder and 
 lightning, the smoke, the clouds, and the fiery appearances, 
 were indications "of the Divine displeasure against the 
 people of Israel ; these accompanying experiences are also 
 thought to demonstrate clearly that the revealed laws 
 were laws of condemnation and spiritual death, manifest- 
 ing to mankind their guilt and their duty, without giving 
 them the ability to shun the one, or the power to fulfill 
 the other ; and therefore these laws are frequently deemed 
 fiery laws, denouncing a curse upon every one who did 
 not obey them ; and as all mankind had sinned, it is sup- 
 posed no one could obey them ; hence they were deemed 
 to them laws of condemnation and spiritual death, and 
 
198 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 on that account were introduced by clouds and smoke, 
 thunder and lightning", fear and trembling, even the 
 mountain shaking, and the presence of Jehovah appear- 
 ing as in fire. Such are the ideas that have obtained 
 in the religious communities of Christendom; hence it is 
 common for religious professors to maintain that these 
 laws are not binding on believers in Christ ; that they as 
 Christians are not under them, but that they are under 
 grace; Jesus Christ fulfilled these laws for them, and 
 bore and removed their curse in their stead, and all that 
 is required of them is faith in these views of his redeem- 
 ing operations. Such notions have originated from mis- 
 taken ideas of God, and are maintained in the continuance 
 of ignorance regarding his true character, his love, justice, 
 wisdom, and unbounded benevolence. Can any of our 
 hearers imagine that anger, or anything like wrath, con- 
 demnation, and spiritual death, can come from the Lord? 
 He is infinite in love, and his tender mercies are over all 
 his works. Can any suppose that fiery wrath is em- 
 bodied in those laws revealed to his often-erring children, 
 to guide their feet into the paths of righteousness ? All 
 the scenes, all the appearances which took place at the 
 time of the promulgation of the Decalogue, were such as 
 arose from the peculiar state of mind which then existed 
 in the Israeli tish Church ; they were such as were em- 
 blematical of the spiritual states of that people, and of the 
 effect of the truths of Revelation on their minds. We will 
 not enlarge on these appearances at present, and we shall 
 only briefly observe that in the symbolic language of the 
 Bible, thunder and lightning are typical of the manifesta- 
 tions of Divine truths given forth to the Church on earth ; 
 the cloud was an emblem of the mental state of the people 
 of Israel, who were in the shade and in the darkness of 
 ignorance with regard to all spiritual knowledge ; the 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 199 
 
 trumpet sounding, denoted the announcement of 'Divine 
 and heavenly truths to the people ; the congregated mul- 
 titude trembling, implied a holy fear and reverential feel- 
 ing ; the smoke was indicative of the obscurity in which 
 the truths were seen by the Church, and the fire in which 
 Jehovah descended on that important occasion was a symbol 
 of his Divine Love towards the human race ; and to those 
 who were living in evil among them, this Love appeared as 
 a consuming fire, whilst to those who are living in the love 
 of goodness from the Lord, and in obedience to the Ten 
 Commandments, the Lord's Love is the heat and life, the 
 comfort and happiness, of their souls ; and by the voice of 
 Jehovah heard on the mount are denoted his influx and dic- 
 tation in revealing his laws to the Israelitish Church and 
 people. These are some of the prominent circumstances 
 typified by the appearances on Mount Sinai when the 
 law was given, the mountain itself being a symbol of the 
 love and goodness of the Lord. These ten laws were thus 
 given by Jehovah because they are not merely moral laws, 
 but because they are spiritual and Divine ; they were re- 
 vealed in all these sublime appearances to convince man- 
 kind, in every age of the Church, that they are indeed 
 not only laws of natural, civil, and moral obligation, but 
 likewise of the truly spiritual and heavenly life, and that 
 always according to the degree in which they are dis- 
 closed to man's perception and applied to the regeneration 
 of his heart and life. Hence these ten laws contain our 
 duty towards Grod, as well as our duty towards each 
 other; they contain all that is required of man in time, 
 and of angel in eternity; for, like every other part of the 
 revealed will of the Lord, there is in them a threefold 
 sense or meaning, — a celestial sense, adapted to the per- 
 ception and edification of celestial angels ; a spiritual sense, 
 adapted to the angelic inhabitants of the Lord's spiritual 
 
200 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 kingdom ; and a natural sense, from which a religious 
 meaning or doctrine is to be drawn for the use and in- 
 struction of men on earth, and for the formation and 
 nourishment of the Church. This will be obvious from 
 the consideration that these laws are preceded by the 
 words, " God spake all these words ;" for what God speaks 
 is, like Himself, truth Divine ; and his truth is designed 
 for the instruction of all his rational offspring on earth and 
 in heaven ; it is so revealed as to be accommodated to the 
 mental states and uses of all. In the highest, or what the 
 Apostle Paul calls " the third heaven,' 7 its celestial or in- 
 most sense is known ; in the other heavens, its spiritual 
 sense; and in the Church on earth, its natural sense. In 
 heaven the word of the Lord assumes a form of develop- 
 ment suited to the requirements of the angels there ; on 
 earth it is presented to us in a natural or literal form. These 
 laws, or Ten Commandments, therefore, being a kind of 
 first-fruits of the Word of God, and containing a com- 
 pendium of all things relating to religion, or to love to- 
 wards God and love towards our neighbor, are to be 
 regarded as most holy, — are presented for our reception 
 as a transcript of the Divine mind and perfections. They 
 contain the religious and spiritual duties devolving on 
 every one of us, as well as our civil and moral duties ; in 
 them are concentrated the sum and substance of all genuine 
 religion ; for they were written on two tables of stone, one 
 of which contained all our duties to God, the other, all 
 those we owe-to the brotherhood of man. These compre- 
 hend the sum total of our religious duties ; and they are 
 all comprised in the laws of the Decalogue. From the 
 character of these laws, as thus defined, we may easily 
 see why these Commandments were delivered on Mount 
 Sinai in so solemn and extraordinary a manner by the 
 very voice of Jehovah ; it was because all these precepts 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 201 
 
 are boly, spiritual, and Divine, — infinite in truth and love, 
 and unfolding the whole duty of both man and angel, — 
 they were thus delivered to convince us of their Divine 
 sanctity, and of their infinite importance as eternal, ever- 
 binding rules of life ; they are not to be looked on as laws 
 emanating from God's fiery wrath and hot displeasure, — 
 as laws of condemnation and death, or rigor and severity, 
 — as laws showing us what we ought to do, condemning 
 us for not doing it, while the power to obey their require- 
 ments is wholly kept from us ; but, on the contrary, they 
 are laws of pure mercy and love, — laws of Divine order, — 
 our rule of action, and intended to be inscribed on our 
 hearts and lives. Never, indeed, can we be perfectly 
 happy until these laws are written on the tablets of our 
 hearts, and inscribed on the pages of our every-day lives ; 
 and that, too, from the pure principle of love to the Lord 
 and charity to man. We have said these laws of the 
 Decalogue relate not only to our civil and moral conduct, 
 but also to our spiritual and everlasting well-being. 
 
 Again, we frequently meet with persons who tell us the 
 laws of the Decalogue are abrogated by the introduction 
 of the Gospel, and that as followers of Christ we have 
 nothing to do with these laws as rules of life. Such 
 notions are dangerous errors : they would lead men to 
 form false and unjust ideas respecting Divine laws in gen- 
 eral, and even of the Divine Being Himself; they would 
 supersede that line of conduct and duty which the law of 
 God declares to be always binding, — that is, obedience to 
 the Commandments. These laws are what those of the 
 Medes and Persians professed to be, unalterable, — forever 
 binding on the human mind. Jesus Christ declares, 
 " He came not to destroy but to fulfill the law." 
 
 To one who asked Him what he must do to be saved, 
 He said, " If thou wouldst enter into life, keep the com- 
 
 18 
 
202 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 mandments." In teaching his Christian converts, Paul 
 said, "Do we make void the law through faith ? God 
 forbid ; yea, we establish the law." And again says he, 
 "The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and 
 just, and good." And every page of the Sacred Word 
 calls upon us, as immortal beings, to regulate our lives 
 and order our conduct according to these blessed and ever- 
 lasting laws. The Commandments of the Lord are laws 
 of mercy and love, and contain a compendium of every 
 moral, religious, and spiritual duty. The very giving of 
 the laws implies the existence of a power bestowed on 
 mankind to keep those laws. Is it not a reflection on the 
 wisdom of the Almighty to represent Him as enacting 
 laws for the government of his creatures which He has 
 not conferred on them the power or ability to fulfill? 
 Would it not be solemn mockery in Jesus Christ to tell 
 us we cannot enter into life unless we keep the Command- 
 ments, if we had not had ability conferred on us so to do? 
 
 We have already stated that the essence and substance 
 of the Ten Commandments, and, we may add, of all the 
 Divine laws of the Bible, rightly understood, is to love the 
 Lord with all the heart, and to love our neighbor as our- 
 selves ; and the end and purpose of all Divine Revelation 
 is to elevate mankind intellectually, morally, and spirit- 
 ually into this blessed and happy state, — this mountain of 
 heavenly love. To effect this desirable end, the order of 
 the Divine mercy and goodness appears to be, that as 
 man is now a fallen creature, and confessedly prone to 
 evil, redemption is effected for him, — the system of Chris- 
 tianity is revealed in the Gospel, the glorified Jesus 
 Christ is represented to us as " God manifest in the 
 flesh," as the Redeemer and Saviour of men, as the all- 
 wise and merciful Creator of heaven and earth. 
 
 Therefore, however low we have sunk through our 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 203 
 
 fallen propensities, which the Decalogue informs us " are 
 visited unto the third and fourth generation," however 
 much we are degraded by our actual iniquities, in Him — 
 that is, in his glorified Human Nature — is the power of 
 full restoration. 
 
 What, then, does the Lord require of us ? Does He say- 
 to us, "If you do not, by your own independent power, 
 without my aid, fully obey my Ten Commandments, from 
 your first existence to your last breath, you shall die in 
 your sins, and be miserable forever"? Such is not the 
 teaching of the Bible. From it we learn that the Lord 
 graciously calls upon us all to repent of our transgres- 
 sions and sins, to turn* away from every known evil, and, 
 assisted by his power, his Word and Grace, to forsake 
 the errors of our ways, to believe in his Holy Laws, to 
 hav e faith in Him, as " God over all, 11 and to be obedient 
 unto his Commandments. From the Bible we are taught 
 that if we thus return to Him, in the way of his Divine 
 appointment, we prepare our hearts for the reception 
 of his love, and truth, and life, this genuine Repentance 
 will open our minds for the reception of the principles of 
 a sanctifying faith, of love to his holy name, and of charity 
 to all mankind, and will establish these heavenly affections 
 and other Christian graces in our minds. These are the 
 Lord's principles and spirit in the human soul. By these 
 our purification from evil is effected, our regeneration into 
 the heavenly state is accomplished, and the salvation of 
 our immortal spirits is secured. When, therefore, as true 
 penitents, as spiritually-reformed Christians, living under 
 the influence and guidance of these heavenly precepts, we 
 follow the Lord in obedience to his revealed will, we may 
 be truly said " to keep the Commandments ;" and though 
 in our obedience we may still be imperfect, — for no one 
 becomes instantaneously perfect, — yet our chief desire, 
 
204 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 our ruling love, being, as we have said, the love of the 
 Lord and of mankind, — a love derived from the glorified 
 Jesus Christ, "in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the 
 Godhead," — we then obey these ten Divine precepts; for 
 " love is the fulfilling of the law. 77 
 
 Such are the persons who have the law written on their 
 hearts, manifested in their sanctified thoughts and heavenly 
 affections, and who walk according to the Commandments 
 of their God. In the Church, under the teaching of gen- 
 uine Bible-Christianity, there will be continually rising 
 up, in the good Providence of the Lord, persons of this 
 character, advancing in purity, and in the knowledge and 
 love of goodness, and becoming images and likenesses of 
 the Lord. These and such as these, when they come to 
 pass from the Church militant on earth to the Church 
 triumphant in heaven, become angels of order, felicity, 
 and honor in the kingdom of the Lord forever. 
 
 And now, beloved, let us seriously reflect upon these 
 things, let us meditate on these Bible doctrines, and we 
 shall then find these Commandments are everyway suited 
 to our state, our spiritual interests, and our real and per- 
 manent happiness. We shall then thankfully experience, 
 and humbly acknowledge, that there is not a Command- 
 ment given in this whole Decalogue but what has emanated 
 from infinite love and mercy, from a wise and affectionate 
 Father, in order to promote our highest and true in- 
 terests. We shall learn, further, that a faithful obedience 
 to these laws will not only be every way congenial to our 
 hearts, but it will be calculated, moreover, in infinite wis- 
 dom, to qualify us for the sublime, perfect, and eternal 
 realities of the heavenly world. Every Divine law is a 
 law of love, and tends to exalt and dignify us as immortal 
 beings; every commandment leads to a glory that is un- 
 fading and passeth not away. 
 
IKTO THE LIGHT. 205 
 
 Let us, then, beloved, as humble followers of the Com- 
 mandments, seek these heavenly qualifications from the 
 glorified Redeemer and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and strive to live under the influence and guidance of 
 these holy truths ; then shall we with delight obey the lata 
 of the Lord, and be faithfully going forward, day by day, 
 tow r ards the realms of endless bliss, where we shall ex- 
 perience and realize the truth of the gracious declaration 
 of the Lord of glory : " Blessed are all they that do his 
 commandments, for they shall have right to the tree of 
 life, in the city of the New Jerusalem, and shall enter 
 in through the gates into the city." Amen. 
 
 IS* 
 
206 OUT OF TEE CLOUDS: 
 
 DISCOURSE XIII. 
 
 ON THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST, AND THE DIVINE 
 NATURE OF HIS RESURRECTION-BODY. 
 
 Luke xxiv. 34.— " The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." 
 
 The great event of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ has been generally regarded as the main fact on 
 which depends the Christian's hope. If Christ be not 
 risen from the dead, as the apostle very justly observes, 
 then is our preaching vain, and your faith also is vain. 
 His remaining in the tomb would have proved Him to 
 have been a mere man ; holy and gifted He might have 
 been, but, as such, wholly incapable of imparting any help 
 to mankind, to lead them heavenward, except what might 
 be gathered from his example and instruction ; and these 
 would not have differed from the example and instruction 
 of other pious and intellectual men, except in their superior 
 excellence. The power of imparting ability to the sinner 
 " to put away the evil of his doings," to walk according to the 
 principles of Divine Revelation, and to become saved with 
 an everlasting salvation, could not possibly have been given 
 had Jesus been merely a finite mortal, and bad He shared 
 the common lot of mortal men without a manifest Resur- 
 rection from the silent tomb; but, having risen to full and 
 perfect union with the Essential Divine Spirit, or the Father, 
 and through that unition or oneness attained, even as to 
 his glorified Human Spirit or Manhood, the power of being 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 207 
 
 perpetually and spiritually with his genuine disciples, He 
 could truly say, " Lo, I am with you always, even unto 
 the end of the world ;" He was in possession of the ability 
 of communicating to them the inward endowments neces- 
 sary to empower them to obey his precepts, to follow r his 
 example, and to become in their degree like-minded with 
 Himself. 
 
 That Jesus Christ did rise from the tomb is most cer- 
 tain. Not only did the female disciples receive an assur- 
 ance from angels that He was not in the sepulchre, but was 
 risen ; not only did all the disciples see from without that 
 the stone was rolled away from the door of the sepulchre, 
 and nothing of a human person left within, but some of 
 them entered it, and viewed the place where He had lain; 
 and Peter and John, we are informed, beheld the linen 
 cloths in which his body had been swathed, according to 
 the custom of the Jewish people of that age, lying where 
 they had been deposited, and lying, as it would appear, and 
 as the original w r ord implies, as if that which they had en- 
 veloped had emerged without disturbing or unfolding them, 
 and as is expressly said of the napkin, which had been 
 bound round the head, that it lay wrapped together in a 
 place by itself. 
 
 And as it was thus so certain, on the one hand, that the 
 body was gone, it is no less certain, on the other, that 
 Jesus was alive ; for He was repeatedly seen, both on the 
 day of his Resurrection, and on various occasions for forty 
 days afterwards. One peculiar circumstance which shows 
 the Divine nature of this transaction is, that there were no 
 human witnesses of the Resurrection itself, — of the act or 
 manner of coming forth from the tomb, — and no description 
 of it is given by any of the evangelists. What became of 
 that material body which was taken down from the cross ? 
 wrapped in " grave-clothes," and deposited in the sepul- 
 
208 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 chre, none of them positively inform us. When Jesus had, 
 on a previous occasion, raised or resuscitated the widow's 
 son of Nain, " He stopped the bier, and said, Young man, 
 I say unto thee, Arise.'' And it is added, " He that was 
 dead sat up, and began to speak; and He delivered him 
 to his mother." So, again, when He had commanded the 
 stone to be removed from the mouth of the grave of Laza- 
 rus, " He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! 
 And he that was dead," the record proceeds to state, " came 
 forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and his face 
 bound about with a napkin;" therefore Jesus said to those 
 who were present, " Loose him, and let him go." All this 
 is perfectly natural, and with respect to the resurrection 
 from the grave of any finite being, in a body of flesh and 
 blood, the circumstances could not well be otherwise. But 
 such a person could not be evolved from the grave clothes 
 without discomposing them, nor be extricated from them 
 when swathed up in many folds, as was the custom at 
 that time, without assistance from others; and most cer- 
 tainly he could not come out of the sepulchre without, 
 like Lazarus, walking forth. Yet nothing of this nature 
 is recorded respecting the resurrection of Jesus. His 
 grave-clothes were left, as we have seen, undisturbed in 
 the place where his body had lain ; and none of the evan- 
 gelists give any account, except by remote and symbolical 
 images, of the manner in which Jesus emerged from the 
 sepulchre. An angel came and rolled away the stone from 
 the entrance to the sepulchre, yet it is not said that the 
 body of Jesus thereupon walked forth. According to the 
 Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the female disciples 
 were invited by the angel to view the place where the body 
 of the Lord had lain ; and according to the Gospel by John, 
 Mary Magdalene beheld two angels, one sitting at the 
 head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 209 
 
 had been placed ; and the disciples all afterwards saw Him 
 in various places without or outside of the sepulchre ; yet 
 ueither they, nor the guards who had watched the sepul-_ 
 chre through the night, and who also were present when 
 the angel came and rolled away the stone, saw Him come 
 forth. Nor is anything' regarding a coming forth ever 
 stated respecting Him. The angels inside the place say 
 to the women, " He is not here; He is risen,' 7 but they 
 do not in any wise define the manner of his rising. The 
 whole is left in the mystery and apparent obscurity so es- 
 sential to the sublimity of such a subject. Jesus did not 
 rise and go forth as a resuscitated mortal must have done; 
 and the mode of his Resurrection could not have been de- 
 scribed in other terms without departing from the Divine 
 style of writing, in which alone the Word of God could 
 be written ; nor could any terms of human language more 
 plainly describe the facts, without limiting and in a man- 
 ner uniting a subject which, being of a nature purely 
 Divine, can never be adequately apprehended by any mere 
 finite intelligence. The Gospel, therefore, only speaks of 
 it under figurative images, in which the whole Divine full- 
 ness of it is included, though to many, who limit their 
 ideas to the literal expression of the Bible testimony, they 
 seem to have no relation to the subject. Thus, the angel, 
 it is said in Matthew's Gospel, rolled back the stone from 
 the door of the sepulchre ; but it is not said that Jesus 
 thereupon walked out, as was the case with Lazarus, who 
 at his call came forth. The reason is, because, to his coming 
 forth, the rolling away of the stone was by no means 
 necessary. That took place to typify an important cir- 
 cumstance connected with the subject ; but the Resurrection 
 of Jesus could have taken place as surely had the sepul- 
 chre continued closed with the stone from that hour to 
 this. He who, the same evening, and subsequently on 
 
210 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 other occasions, suddenly appeared in the midst of the 
 room where the disciples were assembled, though the 
 doors were shut and fastened, for fear of the Jews, could 
 not have been confined to the tomb had the stone never 
 been removed from its entrance. Everything of the mate- 
 rial body which was laid in the sepulchre must have been 
 there dissipated by his own Omnipotent power. And, 
 although it is said the angel rolled away the stone, it is not 
 said in any of the Gospels that the Lord availed Himself 
 of that circumstance to walk out at the aperture. But his 
 Resurrection-body was a Divine, or, as the apostle says, 
 "a Glorious Body, in which are hid all the treasures of 
 wisdom and knowledge." (Col. ii. 3.) This Glorious Body, 
 as well as the earthly body of Jesus, disappeared from 
 the sepulchre without discomposing the grave-clothes, or 
 requiring the removal of the stone from the door. His 
 Glorious Body, being now in full participation of all the 
 attributes of Divinity, possessed Omnipotence, and could 
 no longer be localized or confined even to the bounda- 
 ries of the material universe. Thus much with regard to 
 the Resurrection of Jesus; and connected with this, the 
 manner of his appearing to his disciples after that event 
 requires to be noticed. 
 
 When it is understood that the Lord in his Resurrection- 
 body is Omnipresent, many circumstances in the Gospel 
 history become easily intelligible, which otherwise would 
 be involved in inextricable mystery. The circumstances 
 we have mentioned, of his Resurrection from the sepul- 
 chre while it was closed and watched by the guard, and 
 his appearing in the midst of the room, the doors being 
 shut, are at once made clear and easily accounted for : 
 either by supposing his Divine Omnipresence in the midst 
 of the disciples, and their spiritual eyes open to behold his 
 presence in spiritual light, or by the exercise of his Divine 
 
INTO THE LTGBT. 211 
 
 Omnipotence assuming a material investment from the ele- 
 ments of matter in the ropm, and thus becoming visible 
 and tangible to the bodily senses of his assembled fol- 
 lowers. " Destroy this body," says He, " and in three days 
 I will raise it again." "I have power to lay it down, and 
 I have power to take it again." In either case we have a 
 view that is in all respects agreeable to the testimony of 
 the Gospels, and which does no violence to any of our 
 perceptions. 
 
 Another circumstance which becomes easy of comprehen- 
 sion when it is understood that the Lord's Resurrection or 
 Glorious Body w T as Divine, and endued with Omnipres- 
 ence, is that of his apparent journey with the two disci- 
 ples to Emmaus; and this again proves that the risen 
 Lord must have possessed these Divine attributes. For 
 He was visible, it appears, to these disciples on their jour- 
 ney, and yet appeared to the Apostle Peter at Jerusalem 
 at the same time! The Evangelist Luke informs us that 
 two disciples, who were acquainted with all that had taken 
 place at the sepulchre, and at Jerusalem in the morning of 
 his Resurrection, went the same day to Emmaus, and that 
 as they went Jesus Himself drew nigh, and went with 
 them ; and when they had arrived at the village whither 
 they were going, He discovered Himself to them, and im- 
 mediately afterwards vanished out of their sight, becom- 
 ing invisible to them, as the original expressly says, no 
 doubt by the closing of their spiritual sight, which had 
 been previously opened. They instantly returned, with 
 all speed, to Jerusalem, to relate what they had wit- 
 nessed ; " where they found the eleven gathered together, 
 and them that were with them," who said, " The Lord is 
 risen indeed, and hath appeared unto Simon." Thus, this 
 appearance to Simon then took place after the two disci- 
 ples had left Jerusalem, and before their return. Thus it 
 
212 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 seems Jesus was seen by Simon at Jerusalem at the very 
 time that He was in company with the travelers to Em- 
 maus, a circumstance which evidently shows that his body 
 was no longer material, but Divine, and possessed of the 
 attributes of Omnipresence and Omnipotence. How sub- 
 lime, how magnificent is this view, which accounts for all 
 these manifestations, by attributing to the Lord's Risen 
 Person, or Glorious Body, the attribute of Omnipotence 
 and the other attributes of Divinity! The whole transac- 
 tions are thus seen to include nothing low, trifling, or de- 
 rogatory to the now Divine Character of the Risen Lord ; 
 but, on the contrary, all inspire conceptions of perfect holi- 
 ness, dignity, and majesty, and fill the mind with the pro- 
 found and reverential feelings which properly belong to a 
 subject so heavenly and Divine. 
 
 While our thoughts are filled w T ith such grand concep- 
 tions of the Omnipresence and other exclusively Divine 
 attributes of the Risen Jesus, we must never lose sight of 
 the momentous fact on which the salvation of the human 
 family then, and our individual salvation at the present 
 time, was, and is, entirely dependent, — that is to say, the 
 glorification of the human nature, or manhood, assumed. 
 Jesus Christ did not lay down, or divest Himself of, the 
 assumed Human nature or manhood, but only of the frail- 
 ties and propensities peculiar to its fallen condition. These 
 imperfections were all through trials and temptations over- 
 come and removed by the process of redemption He 
 effected while in the world. Though He rose again in all re- 
 spects a God, yea, the only God, besides whom there is 
 no Saviour, his glorified Human having thus become the 
 proper Personal Form of the Father, or Essential Divin- 
 ity, and in full union or oneness therewith, yet He rose 
 again also a Man, but a Divine Man complete. He put 
 away all the infirmities and propensities which He had 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 213 
 
 by his birth of a human mother, and gradually put forth 
 into the assumed human nature as it became redeemed a 
 Divine Human, from the Father who dwelt in Him, which 
 is properly the Son of God, in the ultimate principles of 
 human nature. All the residue of the infirmities of the 
 assumed Human of Jesus Christ was, indeed, rejected by 
 his life, death, and burial, and dissipated in the sepul- 
 chre ; but all the fullness of the Divine Human was put 
 forth into the very ultimates of the human assumed at his 
 Resurrection. We must never lose the conviction, there- 
 fore, that in the glorified and Risen Jesus is the full and 
 perfect union of the Divine and Human natures ; that in 
 Him, as the apostle says, " dwelleth all the fullness of the 
 Godhead bodily ;" that in Him God is Man, and Man is 
 God. It is better, in our estimation, even to worship an 
 idol, than to lose the idea of the One only true God in the 
 11 Glorious Body" of the Risen Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 But we must hasten to a conclusion. Instructed by 
 the testimony of Divine Revelation, let 7 us learn to adore 
 the Risen and glorified Jesus as the " True God and Eter- 
 nal Life.' 7 Let us learn to rise from earthly, low, and 
 carnal ideas concerning Him to a sense of his infinite 
 greatness. We must rise in our sentiments if we would 
 obtain any just conceptions of his Divine character. Let 
 us remember, too, what it is that is risen. It is not his 
 Essential Divine Nature, for this could never cease to 
 be the Supreme, the Most High. What is risen is the 
 Human Nature, or Manhood exalted by the process of 
 Redemption to perfect Oneness with the Inmost Divinity. 
 Let us ever think of the Lord Jesus Christ, as to his 
 Glorified Human Nature, as " God over all, blessed for 
 evermore." Let us love and obey Him as such, and then, 
 as He declares, " because He liveth, we shall live also." 
 
 19 
 
214 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 In the language of the apostle, " He will change our vile 
 body, that it may be fashioned like unto his Glorious 
 Body, in which are hid the treasures of wisdom and 
 knowledge." This He will accomplish according to the 
 mighty working whereby He is able to subdue all things 
 unto Himself. This is only another mode of stating the 
 great truth, that by the Omnipotence which belongs to 
 Him in his glorified Manhood, as the possessor of "all 
 power in heaven and on earth," if we are faithful and obe- 
 dient, He will re-create us into his own image and likeness. 
 The Lord grant that this may be the experience of us all. 
 Amen. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 215 
 
 DISCOURSE XIV. 
 
 ON THE PASSION OF THE CROSS, OR SALVATION BY THE 
 BLOOD OF CHRIST. 
 
 Colossians i. 19., 20. 
 
 In our remarks on the popular doctrines of orthodoxy, 
 we are not actuated by any want of Christian charity 
 towards the advocates of the religious opinions of the 
 day, nor by a blind bigotry in support of our own peculiar 
 doctrines : our leading purpose is to be instrumental in 
 rescuing the Bible from "all false doctrines," irrespective 
 of their popularity ; and to the utmost of our ability to 
 make manifest the purity of its truths, the practical, en- 
 lightening, and sanctifying tendency of its morals, and 
 the necessity of conforming to its precepts in order to our 
 attaining to a participation of its gracious promises. We 
 trust, therefore, that none of our hearers will take offense 
 at the freedom of our exposure of traditionary opinions, 
 nor at the fervency and zeal with which we plead the 
 cause of truth, — the cause of what we believe to be Bible- 
 Christianity. 
 
 Salvation by the Passion of the Cross, or by the Blood 
 of Christ, stands out in bold relief, as the most prominent 
 and deeply interesting doctrine in the whole circle of what 
 is called Evangelical Theology. Modern preachers have 
 exhausted their utmost oratorical skill in describing the 
 doctrine in the most fascinating and intensely exciting 
 
216 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 terms. The imaginations of their auditors have been 
 wrought upon and inflated, and their feelings excited to 
 the very highest pitch ; and yet what has been the solid, 
 the moral, and abiding result? Where are we now to 
 look for such a view of the effects of this popular doctrine 
 as at once to satisfy the demands of the intellect and the 
 heart ? The time has come when imaginative descriptions 
 must give way to calm investigation and cogent reasons. 
 In times past it used to appear as a most satisfying state- 
 ment to present in strong contrast the dreadful suffering 
 and the exalted character of the sufferer. A suffering and 
 a dying God was regarded as an object of the deepest 
 interest, and" the contemplation of the event appeared to 
 awaken the most delightful feelings and the noblest senti- 
 ments of devotion. The imagination was filled, the feel- 
 ings were powerfully excited, and the mind, under this 
 popular notion of Salvation by the Passion of the Cross 
 and Blood of Christ, was soothed and satisfied. But minds 
 of another cast are now succeeding to these. The human 
 intellect has awakened as from a long and a deep sleep 
 on religious doctrines, and men now feel themselves called 
 upon to exercise their understandings, " to try all things 
 and hold fast only to that which is good." No doctrine 
 is more strenuously insisted on by modern professors of 
 nearly all religious denominations than this, " Salvation 
 by the Passion of the Cross, or the Blood of Christ." 
 They unanimously contend that it is solely by virtue of 
 the blood, or of the sufferings and death, of Jesus Christ, 
 that salvation is at all attainable. They maintain that by 
 no other means could the wrath of God the Father be 
 appeased, seeing that He had condemned all mankind to 
 eternal misery. They thus represent one God as having 
 died to appease the wrath of another God, — a doctrine 
 which is an obvious violation of the Divine Unity; a 
 
IN TO THE LIGHT. 21? 
 
 doctrine which represents the Father as a God of wrath 
 and vengeance, and which assigns to Him passions and 
 attributes the very opposite of love and goodness. When 
 preachers and writers speak of the Passion and Blood of 
 Jesus Christ, they always mean by the expression his 
 physical sufferings and death. We admit that the suffer- 
 ings and death of Jesus Christ were indispensably neces- 
 sary to man's salvation ; but they were so necessary not 
 to appease the wrath of the Father as a separate Divine 
 Person, but to complete the glorification of the Lord's 
 assumed human nature, that is, to accomplish its entire, 
 assimilation to the Essential Divine Spirit, without which 
 the influences of the Holy Spirit requisite to convey the 
 gifts of salvation to us could not have been imparted to 
 mankind. For the true doctrine of Salvation by the 
 Blood of Christ is in perfect harmony with that of the 
 Indivisible Unity of the Divine Being, and of the com- 
 plete Oneness of the Lord Jesus Christ in his glorified 
 manhood with the Eternal Jehovah, ^nd with the at- 
 tributes of Infinite Love and Wisdom, as constituting the 
 Essential character of the object of our Christian worship 
 and adoration. The passages of Scripture in which the 
 whole of man's salvation is ascribed to the blood of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ are far from being so numerous as a per- 
 son would suppose from the manner in which the subject is 
 so often treated in our modern pulpits. Many religious per- 
 sons and preachers have the phrases, " The Passion of the 
 Cross," " TheBlood of Christ, or " The Blood of the Lamb," 
 perpetually on their lips, and a stranger to the Bible would 
 suppose from such a use of it that one or other of these 
 phrases must occur in every verse, or at least in every 
 chapter, of the New Testament. This, however, is far 
 from being the case, and all the doctrines of the Christian 
 religion, truly understood, might be fully expressed were 
 
 19* 
 
218 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 it not used at all. When the Lord Himself in the Gospels 
 spoke of his blood, it was always in connection with his 
 flesh. Thus, when He declared to the Jews, " Except ye 
 eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye 
 have no life in you." So in the institution of the Holy 
 Supper, " Take, eat; this is my body : drink ye all of it; 
 this is my blood." In fact, He never speaks of the one 
 without the other; but, then, when He does speak of his 
 blood, his language is properly to be understood in a 
 purely spiritual manner and light. We may here be 
 allowed to remark that the genuine meaning of the " Pas- 
 sion of the Cross/' or the " Blood of Christ," is the temp- 
 tation-sufferings of our Saviour ; sufferings which his 
 true disciples must also experience by crucifying the lusts 
 and life of evil when assaulted by temptation, in order that 
 in their degree they may become like Him, and by which 
 spiritual crucifixion their minds and all therein will be 
 purified, and so they will be made pure, " even as He is 
 pure." Such, briefly, is the rational, practical, and edify- 
 ing construction of these Scripture phrases, as resulting 
 from the great first principle that the sufferings of Jesus 
 Christ were pacificatory, or peaceful, not penal and vicari- 
 ous ; because many of the popular errors of doctrine origi- 
 nate in the erroneous principle assumed by the commonly 
 styled Evangelical churches, that the Lord's sufferings and 
 passion of the cross were penal, and were suffered for the 
 human race in his person as their voluntary substitute. 
 The question now, then, is, Were these sufferings of our 
 Lord penal, or not ? Were they of the character or nature 
 of a punishment? or were they in their object like those 
 human sufferings concerning which it is said that " God 
 chasteneth us that we might be partakers of his holiness; 
 because chastening yieldeth afterwards the peaceful fruit 
 of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby"? 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 219 
 
 Modern teachers affirm that the sufferings of the Re- 
 deemer were penal, and their public instruction, founded 
 on this assumption, is generally so ingeniously contrived 
 as to withhold from us the information contained in the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, that Jesus Christ " learned obedi- 
 ence by the things which He suffered, 7 ' and that He was 
 " made perfect through suffering." 
 
 So far, indeed, from drawing any doctrine from these 
 plain and important declarations, the principles usually 
 set forth assert quite the contrary: they assert that Jesus 
 had no moral virtue to attain, and nothing of good to learn, 
 because, as they say, He possessed from birth all fullness ; 
 that He had no perfection to acquire, for He was perfect 
 and immaculate, and free from every imperfect propensity, 
 even from his birth ; and that it was on account of his 
 possessing this exalted character on the mother's as well 
 as on the father's side, that his vicarious sufferings and 
 punishment were of such an infinite worth as to outweigh 
 all that imperfect man, in the persons of the whole human 
 family, could possibly suffer. It is in vain that Jesus Him- 
 self has declared that his assumed human nature required 
 sanctification ; He plainly says, " For their sakes I sanctify 
 myself" But the preachers of the Passion of the Cross 
 and Sanctification by the Blood of Christ affirm, in contra- 
 diction to Him, that Jesus was already holy, and free from 
 all evil tendencies, and that, being already sanctified, He 
 could not require to be sanctified ; and then they proceed, 
 on their own authority, to declare that the word sancti- 
 fied, when applied to the Lord, does not mean the same 
 as when it is immediately after applied to his followers ; 
 that as applied to Him, it means, merely, " set apart ;" but 
 what set apart means they do not pretend to show. It is 
 a mystery ! 
 
 The view of the doctrine we repudiate does away or 
 
220 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 nullifies the apostolic testimony as to the immediate effect 
 of our Lord's sufferings — that is to say, the effect on his 
 own assumed human nature, or manhood ; and it misstates 
 the ultimate effect and bearing of those sufferings upon 
 mankind. Now, these two perfectly distinct effects are 
 carefully distinguished in the writings of the apostles, 
 and also by Jesus Himself. The first effect Jesus sets 
 forth in his saying, " For their sakes [or benefit] I sanc- 
 tify myself;' 7 and the second or ultimate effect He refers 
 to in what follows, where He adds, "that they also may 
 be sanctified through the truth." So, also, the apostle 
 testifies that Jesus entered by his sufferings into the holy 
 place or state, as the immediate effect of those temptation- 
 sufferings ; and that, having thus obtained eternal redemp- 
 tion for us from the captivity of sin and hell, He had made 
 provision for the cleansing of our consciences from dead 
 works by his Spirit as the ultimate effect of those suf- 
 ferings. Again, he shows that Jesus having consecrated 
 his assumed human by his passion on the cross, as a new 
 and living way of access for us into the holy place or 
 state, into which He had previously entered, we may, with 
 the assurance of faith, enter into that state by his blood, 
 suffering, or Divine Truth as the procuring cause, since 
 all Gospel blessings come to us by his Spirit, which flows 
 to mankind from his glorified and sanctified human since 
 his resurrection and ascension. It was thus that He suf- 
 fered being tempted, in order to perfect the human assumed 
 through the virgin, to the end that afterwards He might 
 help us when we are tempted, and so perfect and sanctify 
 us in his own image, renewing us in righteousness and 
 true holiness by his Spirit. 
 
 But there is a more exalted sense belonging to the 
 blood of Christ. Whenever spoken of by the Lord Him- 
 self in the Gospels, it means not the blood shed on the 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 221 
 
 Cross, but the communications of his Holy Spirit pro- 
 ceeding from his Glorified Human or Manhood, to convey 
 spiritual life and salvation by this new and living way to 
 mankind. 
 
 It is commonly supposed that the Lord's flesh and blood 
 in the Holy Supper, which He gives to be representatively 
 eaten and drunk under the types of bread and wine, are 
 given merely to express his death, and as memorials of the 
 Passion of the Cross ; but if our hearers will, at their 
 leisure, read over Christ's long discourse with the Jews 
 upon the subject, as recorded in the sixth chapter of John's 
 Gospel, they will be satisfied, we are persuaded, that flesh 
 and blood, as there used, have reference to what is spirit- 
 ual, communicated by Him, and received by those of man- 
 kind who believe in Him and obey his truth. Flesh and 
 blood will be seen by every devout reader to be the sym- 
 bols of his Infinite Love and Divine Wisdom. Every 
 difficulty will vanish when we are once aware that Jesus 
 Christ was continually in the practice of couching his 
 Divine and spiritual meaning in terms borrowed from the 
 objects of outward nature ; not, however, in an arbitrary 
 manner, but agreeably to a certain fixed law of analogy, 
 established from the beginning, between the objects of 
 the world of matter and those of the world of mind, or 
 between the existences of the natural and those of the 
 spiritual world : these are so formed that there is no 
 spiritual existence which has not its proper emblem in the 
 world of nature. Whenever, therefore, the Lord speaks 
 of his flesh and blood, He refers to the two essential prin- 
 ciples which constitute his Divine Frame, — as flesh and 
 blood constitute the frame of man ; and these, as we have 
 already said, are his Infinite Love and his Divine Wis- 
 dom, — they are his Goodness and his Truth. Nothing 
 else enters into the pure Essential Deity. Nothing else 
 
222 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 can constitute the interior essence of the human soul, par- 
 ticularly if it be renewed, and prepared to receive and 
 enjoy God, or to eat and drink worthily of his Holy Sup- 
 per. Hence it is, when the Lord speaks of his Jlesh and 
 blood, that He speaks of them as being the proper food of 
 human souls : " Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, 
 ye have no life in you," — that is, ye have no spiritual, no 
 heavenly life, — nothing that can qualify your souls to live 
 in heaven. That the Lord did not mean the flesh and 
 blood of his natural body is evident from his answer to 
 the murmuring and carnal Jews and his short-sighted 
 disciples. The former said, " Can this man give us his 
 flesh to eat ?" And the latter, " This is a hard saying : 
 who can bear it?" But He immediately explained Him- 
 self, by adding, " It is the spirit that quickeneth [or giveth 
 life] ; the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that I speak 
 unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." When Jesus 
 said that the natural flesh profiteth nothing, He, as a 
 matter of course, meant the same in regard to natural 
 blood. He therefore directs us to look for the spiritual sig- 
 nification of his words. 
 
 This, then, is also the most proper signification of " the 
 blood of the Lamb," " Thou art worthy to take the 
 book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, 
 and hast redeemed [or purchased] us to God by thy blood, 
 out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." 
 By the blood of the Lamb, by which man is redeemed or 
 purchased and saved, is meant the Divine Truth, flowing 
 from the Lord's Glorified Spirit, and offered for the quick- 
 ening of man and the renewal of his heart to spiritual life. 
 When this Spirit is received by us, we believe his Word, 
 — we attain to a ri^rht understanding of it, — we allow it 
 to purify our hearts, and we make it the director of our 
 lives. It is a pure gift of the Lord's Divine bounty, and, 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 223 
 
 when accepted by us, we are bound, we are purchased by 
 it, to his service. Had He not assumed our nature and 
 laid down his life for us, this reception of the truth and 
 life of his Word must forever have remained beyond our 
 reach ; but these being presented to us through the glori- 
 fication of his Human or Manhood and unition with the 
 Essential Divine, to which the Passion on the Cross was 
 an indispensable preliminary, presented in a form and 
 manner which we can apprehend, we may now "put forth 
 our hand unto the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.' 7 
 The tree of life is the Lord Himself, and its fruits are the 
 spiritual graces of charity and faith of which He is the 
 Author ; and these, in the accommodated form of the flesh 
 and blood of Jesus Christ, of bread and wine, or the 
 Divine Goodness and Truth proceeding from Him, are 
 offered to the acceptance of the whole human family. 
 Whatever the variety of man's state, character, color, or 
 attainments, the graces of salvation are made free to all. 
 
 And now, beloved friends in the Lord, permit us, by 
 way of improvement, to inquire whether the view of sal- 
 vation by the Blood of Christ which has been presented 
 to you this morning is not a rational, and, what is of yet 
 more importance, a Scriptural disclosure of the sub. 
 ject. We are persuaded you will hereafter lay aside 
 preconceived notions and search the Scriptures with 
 candor, prayerfulness, and sincerity of heart. Where, 
 we would ask the professing world, do you find one word 
 in the Bible respecting one Divine Person dying, in the 
 most inexpressible tortures, to appease the wrath of 
 another Divine Person, that would consent to be recon- 
 ciled on no other conditions ? We are, indeed, quite 
 astonished how such a persuasion ever entered the human 
 imagination. Dark and gloomy, and destitute of all light 
 of intelligence^, of all benevolence, veneration, sympathy, 
 
224 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 and love, must that mind have been which first conceived 
 so monstrous a supposition, — a supposition which sets up 
 not only two Divine Persons of such contradictory na- 
 tures, but which assigns to the first of these Persons 
 a nature totally opposite to that which must peculiarly 
 and essentially belong to the great and gracious Father 
 of the Universe. And what is most strange is that the 
 originator of this notion should have fancied that he found 
 it in the Bible, in which, nevertheless, not a trace of it is 
 to be found. The doctrine of salvation by the blood of 
 Christ, rightly understood, is, as we have shown, a doc- 
 trine of the Bible ; but will any one, for the sake of main- 
 taining this popular doctrine, adhere to this preposterous 
 notion, when the real Scriptural doctrine of salvation by 
 the blood of Jesus Christ requires no such melancholy 
 inconsistencies to explain and uphold it? Jesus Christ 
 did indeed suffer for us, — for our good, because otherwise 
 we must have perished eternally ; and He did thereby 
 effect salvation for all who are willing to do his will ; but 
 He did not undergo this suffering as a punishment in- 
 flicted upon Him by another Divine Person as a commuta- 
 tion for our eternal punishment, but, as we have seen, 
 because his assumed Human, or Manhood, could not 
 otherwise be glorified ; and without this glorification He 
 could not have given us his flesh to eat, or hls'blood to 
 drink; nor could He have imparted by his Holy Spirit, for 
 the nourishment of our souls, the blessed communications 
 of his eternal love and wisdom, — his infinite mercy and 
 grace, — His Living Bread and New Wine. And since 
 He is our Redeemer and Saviour, k< The true God and 
 eternal life," and has become the Author of " eternal salva- 
 tion to all that obey Him," let us henceforward love and 
 worship Him as " God over all, blessed forever." Amen. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 225 
 
 DISCOURSE XV. 
 
 ON FAITH. 
 Habakkuk ii. 4. 
 
 The term faith comprehends a most essential and im- 
 portant branch of Christian Theology. It includes what- 
 ever is a matter of belief on the part of a convert to the 
 doctrines of the Gospel. The principles* of the Word of 
 God are the only proper constituents of a Christian's 
 faith; for all that which may, for a time, be produced by 
 mere appearances, representations, and false reasonings, 
 can only be accounted as a counterfeit faith, — a vain per- 
 suasion, or an illusion, that will most undoubtedly fail to 
 be effective of any saving good when the truths of Divine 
 Revelation are brought to light. These truths plainly 
 teach that genuine and saving faith is that which leads the 
 believer's mind to look to the glorified Jesus Christ as the 
 Lord God, — the world's Redeemer and Saviour. We 
 scarcely need attempt to prove to this congregation that 
 Jesus Christ is the only proper object of a true and saving 
 faith, after what has been advanced by us on various occa- 
 sions in regard to this interesting subject. As there is, 
 and can be, but One God, and as Jesus Christ is declared 
 to be ll God over all, blessed forever," therefore Bible- 
 Christians maintain He is that One only God. To say 
 that Jesus Christ is God, and not exclusively the Only God, 
 would evidently be to admit that there are more Gods than 
 
 20 
 
226 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 One ; and this would not only be contrary to the Bible tes- 
 timony, but it would require a divided faith, — a faith in 
 several Gods. Such a faith, instead of blessing, would 
 distract the mind. The principles of faith in regard to 
 Jesus Christ are that in Him Divinity and Humanity are 
 united, — that He is God and Man in one and the same 
 Being, consequently in one and the same Divine Person; 
 for we cannot conceive that any one Being can be divided 
 into two or three real and distinct persons. It ought fur- 
 ther to be observed that, although Divinity and Humanity 
 in Jesus Christ are distinctly the objects of our regard and 
 faith, they possess not two opposite, nor even different, 
 natures. Divinity itself is really human, and Humanity 
 in its primary essence is really Divine. Whenever we 
 speak of the Divinity of the Lord's Humanity, it is essen- 
 tially important that we entertain clear ideas of what con- 
 stitutes humanity, — human nature or manhood. In speak- 
 ing of the glorified Humanity, human nature, or manhood 
 of Jesus Christ, we never have any reference whatever to 
 the material body, — the body that was crucified on the 
 cross, and pierced by the spear of a Roman soldier. Tha^ 
 quality or characteristic by which we are distinguished as 
 finite human beings, is the fact of our being by creation in 
 possession of a Will and an Understanding ; and the per- 
 fection of these mental qualities consists in our willing 
 what is good, and understanding what is true, so that the 
 more good we will and love, and the more truth we under- 
 stand and obey, the more truly are we human, and the more 
 completely are we distinguished as human beings from the 
 rest of the animal creation. If, therefore, it be good and 
 truth, willed and understood, which make us human, then 
 are these two the essential human principles ; and in this 
 point of view, to speak of a Divine or Glorified Humanity t 
 human nature, or Manhood, is to speak of Divine Good 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 221 
 
 and Divine Truth. Hence, to consider our blessed Lord's 
 human as finite would be to consider his goodness and 
 truth as finite ; and as his goodness and truth are revealed 
 only in his sacred Word, it would be to consider his Word 
 as finite, — that is to say, as possessing only a ereaturely 
 wisdom. As therefore the action or operation of the Di- 
 vine Good and Truth into man, as a recipient form of life, 
 produces, through the instrumentality of that form, the 
 whole of human good and truth, and constitutes their very 
 essence, from which they are truly finite human beings, 
 it follows that God, as to his Divine Good and Truth, is 
 as truly Infinitely Human, though always manifested, or 
 brought forth to man's view, under a finited appearance. 
 So that the two natures — Divine and Human — are not, in 
 fact, two different natures, but one and the same in the 
 glorified Lord Jesus Christ. The reason of the distinc- 
 tion which we seem to make in them is not on account of 
 any actual difference, but because the Divinity, though in- 
 finite as to everything affirmed of it, can yet only he finitely 
 apprehended by mankind. And as the glorified Human 
 of Jesus Christ — the Son of God — is the Divine Human or 
 Manhood of Jehovah, therefore in Jesus Christ the Divine 
 as Human presents Himself to us in the manner best suited 
 to inspire ereaturely faith. " No man has seen God [pure 
 Divinity] at any time; the only begotten Son [or Glorified 
 Human] who is in the bosom of the Father, He has brought 
 Him forth to view." Thus the Father, or essential Divine 
 Spirit, is in the glorified Human, and the Human in the 
 Divine, in One Divine Person. " I and the Father are 
 One." Moreover, a saving faith implies a deliverance 
 from every false principle which would ruin the human 
 understanding, and from every vicious disposition which 
 would destroy the integrity and innocence of the human 
 will ; therefore a right apprehension of the Divine Being, 
 
228 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 and a true faith in Him, are most essential requisites to 
 our salvation. 
 
 That faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as " God manifest 
 in the flesh,' 7 is obviously enjoined in the Gospel, will be 
 seen by a reference to his own words, " He that believeth 
 on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not 
 on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth 
 on him." If the Son were not God, the want of faith in 
 Him would not be attended with the loss of everlasting 
 life ; and, as no one can " enter into the kingdom of God 
 except he be born again," therefore faith in Him must be 
 effective of that important change in the human character 
 which is implied in being born again ; and as that change 
 is confessedly from natural- to spiritual-mindedness, there- 
 fore " the wrath of God" is said to rest on those who " do 
 not believe on the Son," — on those who have not under- 
 gone this change. Man's unregenerate nature is in oppo- 
 sition to the Divine Will, and he therefore feels the Divine 
 Influence, which in itself is infinite and unchangeable 
 Love, as wrath upon his unconverted soul. This is what 
 is really meant, in the Scriptures, by the anger and the 
 wrath of God. No such passions belong to Him. It is 
 the recipient's unchanged heart that gives in all cases this 
 appearance of wrath in God to the beholder. The glori- 
 fied Jesus, in the character of his Manhood, is the Divine 
 Truth, in its universal principle ; and therefore it is writ- 
 ten, " Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but 
 have everlasting life." " Jesus said, I am the resurrection 
 and the life : he that believeth on me shall never die." No 
 finite man could, with truth, style himself " the resurrec- 
 tion and the life," nor by his own power preserve from 
 spiritual death all those that believe on Him. To have 
 faith on Jesus as the Saviour, is to rely on Him for sal- 
 vation. To believe on Him as the truth, is to look to Him 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 229 
 
 for internal illumination and instruction. To believe that 
 without Him we can do nothing truly good, is to rely on 
 Him for the ability to do whatever He may enjoin us to 
 do ; and to believe that He has all power in heaven and 
 in earth, — that He knoweth all thiugs, — that by Him were 
 all things made that are made, — that He will always be 
 present with his followers in the regenerate life, — and that 
 even " in the midst of two or three met together in his 
 name, He will also be found," — implies a confidence in Him, 
 — a reliance on his gracious promises as the Omnipotent, 
 Omniscient, and Omnipresent " God over all, blessed for- 
 ever." 
 
 The apostles, after the resurrection of Jesus, went forth 
 into the world to teach faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 " in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead," as 
 the only way of salvation ; and that from Him, and by 
 belief in Him, all that is constituent of heavenly life is to 
 be obtained. In his name they performed various mira- 
 cles, and on every occasion directed their hearers to the 
 most full and perfect confidence in Him as the only One 
 possessing the power, wisdom, and goodness, to save man- 
 kind from the dominion and slavery of sinful desires and 
 of idolatrous and heathen notions. Paul says, " Never- 
 theless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the 
 life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in Him." 
 This language of Paul would be exceedingly ridiculous if 
 Jesus, in his all-glorious Manhood, were not God, from 
 whom the all of life is derived, and by whose almighty 
 power we are continually enabled to will, understand, 
 think, and act, as finite human beings. Again, " Paul 
 testified to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance 
 towards God, and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Re- 
 pentance towards God implies the turning from all known 
 evil as sin against Him ; and Faith in our Lord Jesus 
 
 20* 
 
230 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 Christ denotes faith in his Divine Hitman, or essential 
 principles of Manhood, as the only medium of salvation. 
 And again, the same apostle says, "We who are Jews by 
 nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a 
 man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the 
 Faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed on Jesus 
 Christ." From this passage it will be evident to our 
 hearers what the apostle meant by justification through 
 the Faith of Jesus, in opposition to justification by the mere 
 outward keeping of the ceremonial law of Moses. Not 
 that the ceremonial law, when seen in its spiritual charac- 
 ter, was opposed to the spirit of Jesus and the Gospel, for 
 they are perfectly one in this respect. But the Jews of 
 that age had little or no idea of the spirituality of the law 
 of Moses, or of the internal righteousness it required, 
 and consequently they kept it only after an external or 
 outward manner. 
 
 From what has been advanced, then, it will be seen that 
 a saving Faith is one that is directed to Jesus Christ, the 
 Lord God and Saviour, as to a visible God, in whom 
 dwelleth the invisible, — a God manifested, as Paul says, 
 in " his glorious Body," or Manhood, — as beheld and de- 
 scribed by John in the first chapter of Revelation, — a God 
 who can be at once the object of the most sincere love, and 
 of the clearest and most certain intelligence of the human 
 understanding; a Faith that removes all that vagueness 
 of thought with regard to God, which must necessarily 
 exist while the Divine Being is supposed to be an incom- 
 prehensible something, diffused throughout the Universe 
 like some ethereal principle, to whom we can no more 
 rationally ascribe the attributes and properties of a Divine 
 Mind, than we can suppose the electric fluid to will, think, 
 and voluntarily to act. We cannot think of a principle 
 without its appropriate subject ; we are not able to think, 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 231 
 
 as the Episcopalians would have us, of a God " without 
 body, parts, or passions," neither can we, with the Athe- 
 nians of old, worship " an unknown God," with any saving 
 effect. Every affection and thought must have an object, 
 mentally tangible and spiritually visible. In every concep- 
 tion of love we have an idea of a being that loves, and in 
 every thought of wisdom we have an idea of a being who 
 thinks and is intellectually wise ; but of love and wisdom, 
 as mere floating, aerial particles or abstractions, we have 
 no idea, nor indeed can we have, because, as such, they 
 do not exist. God, therefore, in presenting Himself to 
 human thought and affection in the Human form, ren- 
 ders Himself to his people both mentally tangible and 
 spiritually visible, — a God whom they can love, worship, 
 and adore. 
 
 Peter, in his official character as an apostle, represented 
 Faith in the Lord God the Saviour ; and ivhen he con- 
 fessed that Jesus ivas the Christ, the Son of the Living 
 God, he was called a rock, and to him, as the emblem of 
 that faith, were given the keys by which to open heaven, 
 and it was added, that whatsoever he or it should bind on 
 earth should be bound in heaven, and whatsoever he or it 
 should loose on earth should be loosed in heaven. Peter's 
 acknowledgment of the Lord in his Divine Human or Man- 
 hood is "the rock," — the foundation of all that is true in 
 doctrine and good in practice. It is the rock on which the 
 Church is built, — the hand into which are delivered "the 
 keys of the kingdom." A key is the symbol of power. 
 " The keys of the kingdom" are given, not to Peter as an 
 individual, but to spiiHtual Faith, for such a Faith is the 
 power by which heaven is opened in and to the human 
 soul. Laying aside, then, the idea of Peter as & person, 
 except so far as he represents principles, and keeping in 
 view the power of Faith from love, the meaning of "the 
 
232 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 binding and loosing" will be clear and satisfactory to our 
 hearers. Faith, when it works by love, accomplishes a 
 great work, and whatsoever it binds and looses on earth 
 is bound and loosed in heaven. Bat what and ivhere are 
 the earth and heaven in which this binding and loosing 
 take place? In thinking of earth and heaven we must 
 lift our minds above the ideas of time and space There 
 is a heaven and there is an earth in the mind of every 
 one of us. The Lord said to those around Him, " The 
 kingdom of heaven is within you." There is a region of 
 the mind which is receptive of heavenly truth, and where 
 the Lord's voice is heard, instructing, correcting, or re- 
 proving. The apostle describes the conflicting action of 
 the two regions of the mind in those who have entered 
 the regenerate life, which he calls "the spirit warring 
 against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit," the two 
 being contrary the one to the other. These two regions 
 of the human mind — the higher and the lower, or internal 
 and external — are in the Bible compared to heaven and 
 earth. When the regenerating Christian prays, " Thy will 
 be done on earth as it is in heaven," he prays that the 
 earthly within him may be brought under the dominion 
 and guidance of the heavenly, — that the empire of Divine 
 good, set up in the higher, or the heavenly region, may 
 descend, and be established in the lower region, or in the 
 earthly. Every part of the Word relates to personal re- 
 generation. The two ruling principles of the lower men- 
 tal region, or natural mind, are the love of self and the 
 love of the world. These stand opposed to the two heav- 
 enly principles which ought to rule in and over every one, 
 — we speak of the love of the Lord, and the love of our 
 neighbor. These are, in fact, the very principles of heaven, 
 everything in heaven being constituted of them. But, un- 
 less we bind or subdue the motions and propensities of our 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 233 
 
 earthly region of mind, the principles of heaven which we 
 may feel in our higher or spiritual region of mind cannot 
 come down and rule and exercise dominion in the earthly 
 region, or external mind. But when we do bind or sub- 
 due the motions and propensities of our earthly region of 
 mind, the things of heaven are loosed, and descend to 
 earth. The natural becomes filled with the spiritual. The 
 thoughts, affections, and life are in harmony with the prin- 
 ciples of a saving Faith. Heaven descends to earth, and 
 God's tabernacle is with man. These become the fixed 
 principles of life. Thus these principles are said to be 
 bound on earth, and also in heaven, because what we re- 
 ceive into our hearts and lives remains with us forever, 
 and forms our heaven after death, for heaven has its very 
 basis in regeneration. But when any one intellectually 
 perceives truth, but does not love it, nor do it, it is not 
 bound on earth, and it is not bound in heaven, for such a 
 man. Thus we may see that whatever power was €on- 
 ferred on Peter was not confined to him exclusively or 
 personally. It is a power offered to all who believe and 
 ask for it in a proper manner and in a true and Christian 
 Faith. Faith is a clear and intellectual perception of the 
 truths of the Bible. This gives the mind a settled confi- 
 dence in the total fulfillment of the Lord's promises, and a 
 dependence on Him for all things. Faith without the life 
 of love and charity is a dead faith, — a mere blind per- 
 suasion of the region of the carnal mind, — a faith which 
 prompts the unregenerate rudely to ask of God those 
 heavenly enjoyments for which their souls have neither 
 appetite nor taste. But to believe even the greatest truths 
 without a life corresponding with such a faith is of no 
 avail. " Thou believest," says the Apostle James, "that 
 there is one God ; thou doest well : the devils also be- 
 lieve and tremble." But if this belief had been all that 
 
234 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 was requisite for salvation, then had these devils never 
 been devils. It is most important that every one should 
 form just ideas of faith ; and to enable us all to do so 
 the Lord has put into our hands his revealed Word, and 
 has accompanied it with this injunction, " Search the 
 Scriptures; in them ye think ye have eternal life, and 
 they are they which testify of me." One great cause of 
 the diversity of belief, and of erroneous faith, is neglect 
 of obedience to this plain injunction. Instead of searching 
 the Scriptures for themselves, men have in many cases 
 taken for granted what others have said, and have thus 
 forfeited their own mental freedom ; but freedom of will is 
 that which renders us accountable before God, and this 
 freedom, consequently, cannot be relinquished without 
 criminality. If we would learn from the volume of In- 
 spiration in what true and saving faith consists, we have 
 only to be guided by the Saviour's injunction, and search 
 the Scriptures. There we shall find it recorded, " Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
 all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy 
 mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. This do, and thou 
 shalt live." What can be plainer than this? This is the 
 Bible's description of true and saving faith. It is an epit- 
 ome of the whole Word of God, for on it " hangs all the 
 law and the prophets."* Love, then, may be said to be 
 the very life and soul of faith. Without this principle of 
 heavenly Love there could be no living and true faith. 
 The Lord has given us unnumbered proofs of his love to 
 us, — the greatest of which, if one may be said to be greater 
 
 * Love is the fulfilling of the Law. u He that loveth not, 
 knoweth not God ; for God is love. 11 Christianity is love embodied 
 in its purest form. The Gospel is a revelation of love. And love 
 can be comprehended only by love. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 235 
 
 than another, is that of his manifestation in the flesh, — his 
 assumption of human nature, — that He might thereby ap- 
 proach to our low state or region of mind, and thus enable 
 us to draw near unto Him, and, by the truths of his Holy 
 Word and Spirit operating on our wills and understand- 
 ings, " purify us unto Himself as a peculiar people, zeal- 
 ous of good works." To Him, then, "the only wise God, 
 our Saviour, the author and finisher of our Faith "be glory 
 and dominion, now and for evermore. Amen. 
 
236 OUT OF THE CLOUDS, 
 
 DISCOURSE XVI. 
 
 SERMON DELIVERED ON THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF 
 ORDINATION, AUGUST 1 lTH, 1861. 
 
 Mark xvi. 15. 
 
 One of the great ends intended by the manifestation of 
 Jesus Christ in the flesh was, that mankind might be more 
 particularly instructed in the things which make for their 
 peace, — -that they might be brought from mental darkness 
 to intellectual light, from ignorance to the knowledge of 
 those principles which, illuminating their understandings, 
 influencing their wills, and giving a character to their 
 lives, might prepare them to become participators of the 
 felicities of the kingdom of heaven. More effectually to 
 accomplish this Divine purpose, John the Baptist, as the 
 forerunner of the Lord, came preaching the doctrine of 
 repentance for the remission of sins, as a preparatory 
 measure to man's being benefited by the coming of Christ. 
 Before that event angels also came, and preached or pro- 
 claimed to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem, 
 "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." 
 Jesus Christ Himself when on earth devoted a large por- 
 tion of his time to preaching. 
 
 He spake as never man spoke, and his sermons, as em- 
 bodied in the Gospels, have excited the admiration of men 
 and women of refined and pious minds in all ages of the 
 Church. He selected or appointed twelve disciples, and 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 23 1 
 
 ordained them to preach. And after his resurrection He 
 reimposed the mission of preaching on them, as an all-im- 
 portant part of their future vocation : " Go ye into all the 
 world," said He, " and preach the Gospel to every creature." 
 Hence it is obviously the gracious will of our blessed Lord 
 that the truths of Redemption and Salvation, as well as 
 the other great doctrines of Divine Revelation, should be 
 proclaimed to mankind everywhere. Previous to this 
 commission to the disciples, the means of attaining to a 
 knowledge of the true God had been in a great measure 
 confined to the Jews. They alone were in possession of 
 the oracles of God. The labors of Jesus Christ Himself 
 were principally confined, externally at least, to the lost 
 sheep of the house of Israel ; and his disciples were pre- 
 viously prohibited from preaching among the Gentiles. 
 But now the time was fully come when the Gentiles were 
 to be favored with the preaching of the Gospel ; when 
 the partition-wall which had separated Israel from all the 
 world should be broken down, and all former distinctions 
 forever cease, that in Jesus Christ there should be neither 
 Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barba- 
 rian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ and the prin- 
 ciples of Christianity preached to all people — to every 
 creature throughout the world. The disciples accordingly 
 went forth, preaching the doctrines of Christianity wherever 
 suitable opportunities presented themselves, and fulfilling 
 that department of their mission not only in Judea, but 
 more particularly among the Gentiles throughout the then 
 known world. From the days of the apostles, men have 
 been ordained and introduced into the ministry by the 
 imposition of hands, and have thus assumed, under the 
 authority of the Church, the duties and responsibilities of 
 preachers of the truths of salvation. By such means the 
 .will of the Lord has been carried out more or less per- 
 
 21 
 
238 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 fectly, and mankind have been called to repentance and 
 eternal life through their labors in preaching the doctrines 
 of the Word of God. 
 
 It is fifty years this day since I was ordained into the 
 ministry of the Word of God by the customary imposition 
 of the hands of the appointed minister. It is no ordinary 
 privilege to be admitted to a participation in this great 
 and glorious work of the Lord our God, and, as it were, to 
 be laid under the necessity of cultivating an intimacy with 
 the great principles of the religion of the Bible. Paul 
 magnified his ministry ; and well he might, for the won- 
 drous scenes inseparable from the labors of the ministerial 
 office most fully put in requisition all man's intellectual 
 and moral powers. For about a year previous to ordina- 
 tion I had preached to a small congregation, and at their 
 request I consented to be presented as a person suitable 
 to be admitted into the ministerial office. I remember the 
 scene of my inauguration well. Of those who were present 
 at the ceremony, there is but one person now living be- 
 sides myself. That individual is Brother Wright; he was 
 one of my hearers then, and has been so from that day to 
 this. All others who were witnesses when I bowed my 
 knees before the glorified Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 as the true God and eternal life, have passed by death 
 from this transitory state of being. A Bible was presented 
 for my acceptance, and a solemn charge given, and I re- 
 ceived the great trust and authority from the Lord — by 
 the laying on of the hands of the minister — to teach and 
 to preach the Word, to administer the ordinances of Bap- 
 tism and the Holy Supper, and to perform all the other 
 duties incumbent upon a minister of the Gospel. To me 
 it was a solemn day, and it was associated with solemn 
 responsibilities. Since that day, it may be said, two gen- 
 erations have passed away. Not one of those to whom I 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 239 
 
 first preached in England, where my ordination took place, 
 is now living, with the exception already stated; and of 
 twenty-eight adult individuals who came to this country 
 with me forty-four years ago, there are only two remain- 
 ing besides myself. Truly is it written, " One generation 
 goeth, and another cometh, but the earth remaineth for- 
 ever." I cannot be too thankful that amidst all these 
 changes I have been mercifully preserved, and that I com- 
 menced my ministry under a deep impression that I must 
 be a minister of incessant watchfulness and care for the 
 welfare of those intrusted by Providence to my teaching. 
 My mind, even at the outset, was never dazzled either by 
 the prospect of popularity or repose ; for thirty-eight years 
 I preached without receiving any pecuniary emolument 
 by way of compensation. This part of my proceeding I 
 would not advise any one hereafter to follow. Ministers 
 cannot live merely on air. Jesus has assured us we can- 
 not faithfully serve two masters,— do our duty as preachers, 
 and be engaged in worldly pursuits, — and He has instructed 
 us that " the laborer is worthy of his hire." In everything 
 but this, if I am not deceived, my work has been my joy, 
 and most my joy when most laborious. I did not enter 
 into the ministry for its wealth, or I might have been dif- 
 ferently circumstanced in that respect. I did not enter it 
 as a secular calling, but because I wished to be useful to 
 others in matters of the highest moment for their ever- 
 lasting interests. Until within the last four years, my 
 sermons, as a general thing, have been extemporaneous. 
 Since then, I have written and delivered two sermons a 
 week, with but a very few exceptions. If I know myself, 
 my aim has always been devoutly to fulfill the ministry I 
 have received in the Divine providence of the Lord Jesus. 
 I am not unaware of my imperfections as a teacher, espe- 
 cially in regard to oratorical abilities. I know also and 
 
240 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 keenly feel the want of popularity which the practical 
 doctrines I have taught have mostly met with at the 
 hands of the men of the world, and even among the great 
 body of professors of religion. But I have done the best 
 I could, conscientiously and sincerely, for the cause of 
 true religion. That the primitive apostles of Jesus Christ 
 enjoyed many and peculiar privileges during the time in 
 which they were on earth, as the chosen disciples, the de- 
 voted friends, and daily companions of their Lord, no one 
 who believes in the truths of the Bible will be disposed to 
 deny. They had the inexpressible happiness of hearing 
 his public discourses, and of listening to his private in- 
 structions; they saw his mighty miracles, they heard his 
 beautiful parables, his sublime sermons, and they beheld 
 his meekness and lowliness of heart. The doctrines and 
 spirit of the Christian dispensation they were taught 
 by precept and example ; and whenever they understood 
 not the nature of his doctrines, as delivered before the 
 people, He cheerfully explained to them in private and 
 caused them clearly to understand; and these highly 
 favored men, in the fullness of their gratitude and admira- 
 tion, exclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh 
 away the sin of the world." In the ardency of their affec- 
 tion they declared, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
 living God." Nor need we wonder at this : they had been 
 called to take a part in a new dispensation, — a dispensation 
 of universal benevolence and heaven-born charity. They 
 had been taught the glorious truths of the Gospel, and 
 had been ordained as the first preachers of a faith that 
 went to bring salvation fully before their minds; and they 
 understood and believed, — they obeyed, and lived accord- 
 ing to the doctrines thev- had espoused and the charity 
 they had imbibed. Such were the faithful among the 
 primitive disciples of our blessed Lord; such a few of 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 241 
 
 their privileges, their enjoyments, their co-operation, and 
 their happiness. In after-periods of the Church those 
 entering the ministry have not had any of these external 
 privileges ; but jet there is reason to believe that wherever 
 there is sincerity and devotedness of heart, the laborers in 
 the Lord's vineyard are not left comfortless. He is in- 
 wardly present, and by the aid and influences of his Spirit, 
 which in all ages of the world are sent forth, He is at all 
 times ready to enlighten, to encourage, and sustain them 
 in their arduous undertaking. Hence the pulpit at all 
 times has had an important influence on the morals of 
 society. The peculiarity of the doctrines I have taught 
 has been one cause of the smallness of the congregation 
 that usually attends in this house. A life and practice in 
 accordance with the knowledge of the truths of Revelation 
 have invariably been enjoined as indispensably necessary 
 to man's happiness ; not the hearers of the word, but the 
 doers of the word, are they who find acceptance with the 
 Lord of heaven and earth. "If ye know these things," 
 saith the Lord, " happy are ye if ye do them." Religion 
 has been represented as that which is to be shed into 
 actual and daily life; and this practical requirement has 
 apparently retarded the outward growth of the Church. 
 Mankind, as a general principle, are not only ■" slow of 
 heart to believe all that the prophets have said," but 
 equally tardy in " laying the axe to the root of the tree," 
 and bringing forth in their lives the fruits of righteous- 
 ness and true holiness. 
 
 From a prayerful exercise of those intellectual and moral 
 faculties with which the Creator has graciously endowed 
 all men, I have seen and taught through the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures during the last fifty years that there is but one living 
 and true God, — the Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour of the 
 world, — one in essence, one in person, — and that the glori- 
 
 21* 
 
242 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 fied Jesus Christ is u God over all, blessed forever." The 
 apostle says, " God was in Christ reconciling the world 
 to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them," nor, as 
 some preachers would have us suppose, reconciling an angry 
 and unforgiving God to sinful, fallen man. He also adds, 
 " All things are of God, who has reconciled US to Him- 
 self in Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of 
 reconciliation, and has committed unto us the word of 
 reconciliation." " Hear, Israel, the Lord thy God is one 
 Lord." And says Paul, "In Jesus Christ dwelleth all 
 the fullness of the Godhead bodily." It therefore inevi- 
 tably follows that if " all the fullness of the Godhead, or 
 Deity, dwells in Him bodily," there can be but one person 
 of the Godhead. Let it not be imagined that with this idea 
 of one person in the Godhead I must not have believed in 
 the Trinity. So far from this being the case, I have at 
 all times preached that, while the Scriptures are explicit 
 on the Unity of the Divine Being, they proclaim with 
 equal clearness to the understanding of men the doctrine 
 of a Divine Trinity, as the great characteristic of the Chris- 
 tian Religion. After the resurrection, Jesus Christ com- 
 manded his disciples not only "to preach the Gospel to 
 every creature," but to " baptize all nations in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." 
 In speaking on this doctrine I have not understood or 
 represented the terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as 
 meaning three separate and distinct persons, but rather as 
 expressive of a threefold combination of spirit concen- 
 trated in the glorified Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 As to his Essential Divine Spirit, He is called, in the fig- 
 urative language of the Bible, the Father ; as to the Divine 
 Human Spirit, or Son of Man, He is called the Son; and 
 as to his Divine sphere,— power of operation or energy by 
 which He redeems and regenerates mankind, — He is called 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 243 
 
 the Holy Spirit. The Essential Divine Spirit and the 
 glorified manhood of Christ are one in the all-glorious 
 person of Jesus Christ, comparatively ; as in this life the 
 soul and body of finite man are one in every individual of the 
 human race, agreeing precisely with the celebrated Atha- 
 nasian Creed, " As the reasonable soul and flesh are one 
 man, so God and man, or Father and Son, are one Christ ;" 
 and that the Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the 
 Son, being the emanated energy or power of operation on 
 all human minds, to enlighten, to sanctify, and to save, is 
 also clearly the doctrine of the Bible, particularly from the 
 circumstance that Jesus Christ, previous to his ascension, 
 " breathed on his disciples, and said, Receive ye the Holy 
 Spirit." 
 
 Another doctrine I have felt in duty bound to preach 
 for the instruction of my hearers, is^that of Redemption by 
 Jesus Christ. If it be true that there is only one Divine 
 Being upon the throne of heaven, and if there is in reality 
 no such feeling as anger or wrath, nor a principle of vin- 
 dictive justice, in the bosom of the God of the Bible, it is 
 esteemed impossible that the popular teaching, which as- 
 cribes to our merciful and heavenly Father such unworthy 
 passions and so odious a principle, can have its foundation 
 in the Sacred Scriptures, when they are correctly under- 
 stood. Redemption consisted in the assumption of human 
 nature, and its actual recovery, deliverance, and ransom 
 from the dominion of the powers of darkness by the Om- 
 nipotent hand of Jehovah Himself, manifest in the flesh. 
 The Bible teaches most clearly that w T hen mankind had 
 fallen from the state of integrity in w r hich they were while 
 dwelling in the Garden of Eden, if they were to be saved, 
 it became necessary that means should be provided for 
 that end. But their restoration could only be effected by 
 a Divine power. He who was the Creator of man could 
 
244 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 alone become his Redeemer and Saviour, and therefore, in 
 the fullness of time, in his love for falleu man, and in his 
 unbounded mercy, He condescended to assume the nature 
 of man, with all its propensities and proclivities to evil, — 
 to take upon Himself that very nature which needed to be 
 redeemed, and in and through this assumed human nature 
 or manhood, He progressively wrought out deliverance and 
 Redemption for his people, — a Redemption and restoration 
 which no other being in heaven or on earth was capable of 
 effecting. The whole prophetic testimony concurs in teach- 
 ing that it was Jehovah Himself who came into the world, 
 in the person of Jesus Christ, to accomplish the work of 
 Redemption. This He effected by subduing the powers 
 of darkness, and thus opening up a new way for the sal- 
 vation of the human family. " Thus saith Jehovah, the 
 King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts, I am 
 the First, and I am the Last, and beside me there is no 
 God." Yet our blessed Lord in the Gospel declares that 
 this work was accomplished by Himself, for He says to 
 his disciples, " Now is the judgment of this world ; now 
 shall the prince of this world be cast out.' 7 " The Prince 
 of this world is judged.' 7 " Be of good cheer, I have over- 
 come the world." In these and other similar expressions, 
 by the world, and the Prince of this world, are implied the 
 whole Powers of Darkness or hell ; and by the victory ob- 
 tained over them is denoted the great work of Redemption 
 and glorification of his Humanity, which opened the way, 
 and led to the deliverance, restoration, security, and final 
 salvation of the faithful of his people in all periods of the 
 Church. From the time I first entered on the duties of 
 the ministry I have taught that the Bible is a revelation 
 of the will of God to mankind. I have advocated its Divine 
 authenticity, its spirituality, and its plenary Inspiration. 
 But time will not permit me to go into an exposition of 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 245 
 
 the all-varied and important doctrines of the Christian 
 system I have preached for the past fifty years. Besides 
 what has been already adverted to, I have preached the 
 doctrines of Repentance and the Remission of Sins : of 
 man's Free Will in things regarding his highest, his 
 spiritual interests, as well as in the temporal things of his 
 outward or natural life. I have not failed to teach the 
 At-one-ment, and the doctrine of the Resurrection from the 
 dead : a resurrection not of the natural and corruptible 
 body deposited in the grave, but of what the apostle calls 
 the spiritual body. " There is," he says, " a natural body, 
 and there is a spiritual body." At death " a natural body 
 is sown," or committed to the silent grave, never to be re- 
 assumed, " and a spiritual body is raised," — raised, and 
 thenceforward it becomes an inhabitant of the spiritual 
 world. I have maintained that there is a Divine Provi- 
 dence, or a government of the Lord's infinite Love and 
 Wisdom, which has for its end the salvation of mankind 
 and the formation of a heaven out of the human family ; 
 and that in all its operations this providence has respect 
 to what is spiritual and eternal. Its laws are twofold, — 
 those of appointment, and those of permission. The doc- 
 trines also of Baptism, The Holy Supper, Charity, Faith, 
 and Good Works, — in brief, I have preached all the doc- 
 trines of the various Christian denominations, though I 
 have associated and taught very different ideas — respect- 
 ing many of them — from those of other religious persua- 
 sions. On all subjects, and on all occasions, however, I 
 have endeavored to preach the truths of the Christian 
 Church, and to present the Sabbath as a day of worship 
 and of religious instruction ; and in this preaching I have 
 gone three times through the Bible, speaking from every 
 chapter in regular rotation. One thing more : I concur 
 with the Apostle Paul, that "It is good neither to eat 
 
246 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 flesh, nor to drink wine ;" "to be temperate in all things," 
 — to strive to subdue the carnal mind, the selfish propen- 
 sities, and what he calls "the deeds of the body." These 
 sentiments I have preached, and have practiced accord- 
 ingly, for the last fifty-two years. I have represented 
 them as moral and religious duties. 
 
 But I must conclude. The half-century is gone, — gone 
 like the word just spoken, for good or for evil, never to 
 be recalled, — gone as yesterday has gone. Yet why do 
 I say they are gone ? Nothing is gone, whose influence 
 remains with man or woman. The Sabbaths, the prayers, 
 the praises, the weeks, the months, the whole half- 
 century, that seem to us to have passed away, live 
 still, — live in the presence and universe of our heavenly 
 Father. Such have been the religious principles I have 
 taught for more than fifty years. They lay, according 
 to my apprehension, a foundation for purer Christian 
 attainments and a more intellectual form of godliness. 
 They are calculated — if adopted into practical life — to 
 renew and to regenerate man's whole nature. Practical 
 religion, with love to God and charity to man, will sweeten 
 all the hours, the years, and the scenes of human life. The 
 esteem of our friends in such case will be sincere; our 
 children will be found traveling with us heavenward by 
 our side. We also shall continue to grow in grace and in 
 spiritual kuowledge. The Church will be nurtured, and 
 multiply in numbers. Cheerfulness and gratitude to God 
 will crown our worship ; a conscious sense of a Christian 
 spirit, and of progress in the regenerate life, will strengthen 
 our good purposes, and the fruits of love, scattered along 
 our pathway, will be to our souls vital and evident proofs 
 that the Lord our God is ever with us. To Him — " The 
 true God and Eternal Life" — be glory, uow and forever. 
 Amen. 
 
INTO TEE LIGHT. 247 
 
 DISCOURSE XYII. 
 
 THE JUBILEE — BEING A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE BIBLE- 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH — JUNE 12th, 1859. 
 
 Isaiah lxi. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 From the earliest periods of the history of the Church, 
 maukind seem to have deemed certain events and occur- 
 rences in the world worthy of a particular commemora- 
 tion ; and that the custom has received the Divine appro- 
 bation is particularly indicated in the institution of the 
 Passover, — a festival that was to be observed through all 
 the generations of the people of Israel, in commemoration 
 of their deliverance from the oppressions and bondage of 
 the Egyptians. We do not, indeed, meet with any record 
 of such commemorations having been celebrated during the 
 antediluvian, or Adamic Dispensation, unless we receive 
 the narrative of the offerings of Cain and Abel as tokens 
 of their having received certain blessings from the Lord, 
 their Creator, which they felt called on to acknowledge 
 and commemorate by those acts of religious devotion. 
 They are the first intimation of acts of Divine worship 
 that are recorded. And what are external acts of wor- 
 ship but mere ceremonies, to bring to our remembrance 
 our obligations to the Lord for his goodness towards us, 
 unless indeed they be accompanied and sanctified by the 
 adoration of our hearts? In the Church of which Noah 
 was "a preacher of righteousness,' 7 his salvation from the 
 
248 . OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 deluge, and his coming forth from the ark of his safety, 
 were events which he and his family commemorated by 
 building an altar, and presenting thereon an offering unto 
 the Lord. This is represented as having been acceptable, 
 and to have been responded to by the gracious announce- 
 ment from the Lord, that " while the earth remaineth, 
 seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer 
 and winter, and day and night, shall not cease." After 
 the patriarch Abram had been called, and had left the 
 land of his nativity, and had passed into Canaan, the 
 Lord appeared to him, and said, " To thee and to thy 
 posterity will I give this land ;" and Abram commemorated 
 this manifestation by there building an altar unto the Lord. 
 The cause of his posterity going down into Egypt is re- 
 corded as having been the result of a famine in Canaan ; 
 and their being subsequently led up out of that land by 
 the hand of Moses, when the pursuing Egyptians were 
 thrown into the Red Sea, was commemorated by the song 
 of Moses, sung by him and the congregated sons of Israel, 
 and responsively answered by Miriam and the whole camp 
 of Israelitish women. The events of their subsequent his- 
 tory were mostly celebrated in a way intended to keep their 
 occurrence in the memory of the people. Under the Chris- 
 tian dispensation we have a record of the manner in which 
 the heavenly host, and the Magi, or wise men of the East, 
 celebrated the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and we 
 all know his birth is still annually commemorated through- 
 out Christendom at the season called Christmas. In the 
 after-ages of the Church, numerous circumstances have 
 taken place from time to time, which have called forth the 
 gratitude of true believers in Christianity, and induced 
 them to celebrate such events. Among other things of 
 this nature is that of celebrating the commencement of 
 various Churches by those who are members of their re- 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 249 
 
 spective bodies, intending by such means to hand down 
 from generation to generation the knowledge of the origin 
 of their denominations and the peculiarities of their faith. 
 The members of the Bible- Christian Church participate 
 in this feeling common to humanity, and accordingly we 
 have come together this morning to worship the Lord in 
 his holy sanctuary, and to commemorate devoutly the 
 fiftieth year or the Jubilee of our existence as a distinct 
 body of professing Christians. Fifty years ago, on the 
 28th of June, 1809, a number of ministers and lay mem- 
 bers met together for the first time as a distinct body, to 
 worship the Lord according to their conviction of truth, 
 and they publicly declared that they did not form a Secta- 
 rian Church under any particular denomination from man ; 
 that they simply professed and wished to be Bible-Chris- 
 tians ; and that though worshiping and teaching religious 
 principles, according to what the\ T conscientiously believed 
 to be in accordance with the revealed Word of God, they 
 felt in perfect union with the sincere livers in all the vari- 
 ous denominations of Christians. 
 
 We have selected this portion of the Scriptures because 
 it contains an enumeration of many of the blessings which 
 were to be enjoyed by the Israelites on the recurrence of 
 the year of release, or Jubilee year. The particulars of 
 that law, as given by Moses, will be found recorded in the 
 xxv. chapter of Leviticus, 8-13 verse. 
 
 In our text (Isaiah lxi. 1, 2, 3) we have a prophecy rel- 
 ative to the coming of the Lord as the promised Messiah, 
 describing his government and its blessings ; and we are 
 officially informed that all the temporal benefits which the 
 Israelites experienced as a people from being governed 
 according to the principles of the Mosaic laws, would be 
 spiritually enjoyed by every true believer under the Chris- 
 
 22 
 
250 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 tian dispensation ; and that liberty of thought, freedom to 
 worship God according to the dictates of conscience, and 
 an unrestrained exercise of all the powers of the mind, 
 should be proclaimed unto all lands, and to all the inhab- 
 itants thereof, as blessings and privileges secured unto 
 them by the glad tidings of the everlasting Gospel. It 
 appears, from the laws given to the Israelitish Church, 
 that the return of every seventh day was to be observed 
 as a Sabbath, or day of rest ; that every seventh year was 
 to be commemorated as a year of release ; and that every 
 seven times seven, or fiftieth year, was to be celebrated as 
 a National Jubilee, in which year the Jubilee trumpets 
 were to be sounded, a general release was to take place, — 
 a restoration of inheritance was to be made, and the op- 
 pressed, and those that were in bonds, were to go out 
 free. No person can deliberately take into consideration 
 the nature and tendency of these Bible institutions, even 
 when viewed only as legal regulations, and venture to 
 deny either their wisdom, their justice, their benevolence, 
 or the goodness of Jehovah, from whom they were given. 
 The observance of One day in seven, or the Sabbath, was, 
 in fact, an institution not made for the people of Israel 
 only, nor for any particular age or nation, but it was in- 
 stituted for mankind. It is a day in seven intended to 
 promote man's progress in the heavenly life. 
 
 The Sabbatic year was to be observed in the manner 
 specified in the law. There were four peculiarities con- 
 nected with it. The first was thus expressed, " Thou 
 shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard." The 
 second peculiarity was in relation to the gracious promise 
 of Jehovah given to the Israelites, that on condition of 
 their obedience to his Commandments He would so be- 
 stow his blessings upon them that in the sixth year the 
 land should bring forth fruit sufficient for three years. 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 251 
 
 The third peculiarity in regard to tbe Sabbatic year re- 
 lated to the relinquishment of debts or claims on the 
 estates of others ; and tne fourth provided for the public 
 reading of the law at the feast of tabernacles in each Sab- 
 batic year, or year of release. In addition to these there 
 were three other peculiarities which related exclusively to 
 the Jubilee vear. The first of these was, that the Jubilee 
 was to be proclaimed throughout the whole land by the 
 sounding of trumpets. The second observance was, that 
 the Jubilee should be a year of general release of persons 
 and property; all who were in slavery or bondage were 
 in that year to go free ; even those who in the Sabbatical 
 year had voluntarily relinquished their privilege of going 
 out free, and had had their ears bored in token of this, 
 were all to be set free in the Jubilee year, because then 
 they were to ^proclaim liberty throughout all the land to 
 all the inhabitants thereof. The third peculiarity relating 
 to the Jubilee year was, that in it all estates which had 
 been sold at any time within the preceding forty-nine 
 years, were to be returned to their former proprietors, or 
 to the families to which they had originally belonged. By 
 this arrangement it was graciously provided that no family 
 throughout all the tribes of Israel should -ever be finally 
 deprived of their family inheritance or homestead, — made 
 wretched and ruined, and doomed to perpetual poverty, — 
 for such was the benevolent provision that no estate or in- 
 heritance could be alienated or sold for a longer period than 
 the next coming Jubilee year. The nearer, therefore, the year 
 of Jubilee was, the less was the value of the purchase of 
 an estate, the worth being always regulated by the number 
 of years between the time of purchase and the expiration 
 of the term. Now, all these regulations, and especially 
 those relative to the Jubilee, considered only in a political^ 
 or social point of view, were particularly favorable to 
 
252 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 human happiness, and to the advancement of Israelitish 
 society in civilization, freedom, and independence; and 
 when contemplated as the manifested will of God it must 
 be seen how entirely they were calculated to promote their 
 progress in religion, in righteousness, and true holiness. 
 In every aspect, indeed, the Jubilee was a remarkable 
 feature in the Israelitish government. Its requirements 
 were wisely adapted to prevent the more wealthy from 
 becoming the oppressors of the poorer portion of the theoc- 
 racy, and from holding any individual in perpetual slavery. 
 They also prevented the rich from getting permanent pos- 
 session of all the lands of other families, either by way of 
 purchase or of grasping usurpation. Neither could pecu- 
 niary debts be unduly multiplied under the Jubilee princi- 
 ples of government. Its laws were well adapted to preserve 
 personal liberty, equality of property, the regular order of 
 family inheritances, freedom, religion, and independence 
 among the people of Israel. But it is our duty, my be- 
 loved friends, not only to look at these regulations as they 
 applied externally and politically to the government of 
 Israel, but to observe wherein they are intended for the 
 spiritual instruction of all mankind : for the Bible is a 
 religious Book, and its contents are to be religiously inter- 
 preted. " All Scripture, " says an apostle, "is given for 
 our instruction in righteousness." " God is a Spirit," and 
 as the Word of God — the Bible — necessarily contains not 
 merely details of historical facts, and national institutions, 
 such as were literally adapted to the moral, social, and 
 religious state of the people of Israel, who were emphat- 
 ically a worldly and natural-minded people, but within its 
 literal and historical statements, or under their cover, 
 heavenly truths full of spirit and life, intended for the 
 spiritual edification of the Church in all ages, will be 
 found. Let us, then, on this occasion, cast ourselves 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 253 
 
 humbly at the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, " the only Wise 
 God, our Saviour," fervently praying, that as " He opened 
 the understandings" of his primitive disciples, in order 
 that "they might understand the Scriptures," so He will 
 this day open our minds, and enable us to see the adapt- 
 ability of the Sabbatic and Jubilee laws of the Israelitish 
 dispensation to the promotion of our spiritual and indi- 
 vidual instruction, and to our progressive advancement in 
 the life of Christian Regeneration. Then will the Word 
 of the Lord be indeed " a lamp to our feet and a light to 
 lead us in the paths" of righteousness, joy, and peace. 
 
 At the time when these laws were revealed, the Israel- 
 ites were a people who constituted the visible Church of 
 God on earth. In this respect they w T ere not only the 
 predecessors but the representatives of the Church under 
 the Christian dispensation. The Sabbath, which they 
 were commanded to remember and to keep holy, we 
 have observed was not an exclusively Israelitish institu- 
 tion ; its origin is traceable to the time of the creation of 
 man, the Creator having thus early manifested his will in 
 respect to its observance. Among the Israelites the Sab- 
 bath was to be received as a day of sanctity and holiness. 
 Six days of the week symbolically represented the labors 
 and combats of the Lord Jesus Christ with the powers of 
 darkness, in " destroying the works of the devil," while 
 effecting man's redemption ; and the Sabbath typified his 
 victory over them, and the rest, consequently, "remaining 
 to the people of God." The Sabbath was the emblem of 
 the accomplishment of the whole work of Redemption by 
 the Lord, when He was manifested in the flesh, and was 
 therefore to be received as a day of essential holiness. 
 But under the Gospel dispensation the Sabbath is made a 
 day of instruction in heavenly and Divine things, — a day 
 of meditation on subjects concerning God, salvation, and 
 
254 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 eternal life, and a day of worship, adoration, thanksgiving, 
 and praise. The terra, in the original tongue, means rest ; 
 and it is expressive of the state of joy and peace which the 
 regenerate man experiences in his confidence, or his rest 
 in dependence on the Lord. It is, therefore, a day of the 
 highest importance to the spiritual happiness of the whole 
 family of man. But the Sabbatic and Jubilee years pecu- 
 liarly pointed out a release from spiritual oppression, and 
 typified the great and Divine work of the Redemption of 
 mankind by our Lord Jesus Christ, and the renewal or 
 regeneration of our whole nature. " Except a man be 
 born again of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into 
 the kingdom of God." Through the reception of the truths 
 of Divine revelation from the Lord, and by the influence of 
 his Spirit, we are put in possession of a knowledge of the 
 true principles of salvation. We are successively released 
 from the power of our spiritual foes, and are brought, through 
 repentance, reformation, and regeneration, to that heavenly 
 rest and spiritual freedom of which the Sabbath and the 
 Sabbatical year were the emblems. By the propensities of 
 our fallen nature, and through improper habits, we are in 
 mental bondage and spiritual slavery to sin. Through the 
 knowledge of the truths of the Word of the Lord, and 
 the sanctifying influences of his Spirit, we are delivered 
 from this bondage, emancipated from this spiritual slavery, 
 and brought into the enjoyment of "the liberty which be- 
 longs to the children of God." Through our disobedience 
 and many transgressions we have forfeited all rightful 
 claim to a title to a possession in the heavenly Canaan ; 
 but by his Word and Spirit, operating on our hearts and 
 lives, we become born from above, — new creatures, — re- 
 generated, — and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, for that 
 kingdom is open to all true believers ; and with all such 
 there is the experimental conviction that the Church and 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 255 
 
 the kingdom of heaven are really within their souls. 
 After this progressive order, then, — released from our 
 spiritual adversaries, — the foes of our own households, — 
 restored to spiritual liberty, united in spirit with the heav- 
 enly family, — angels, and the spirits of the just made per- 
 fect, — reconciled and at-one with our heavenly Father, and, 
 through being thus " transformed into the image and like- 
 ness of the Lord," re-entitled to our inheritance in the 
 heavenly Canaan, we may enjoy our Jubilee in the Church 
 on earth, — urge on our way rejoicing; every day; by our 
 conversation and example, proclaiming liberty throughout 
 all the land to all the inhabitants thereof, and thus an- 
 nouncing to all around the acceptable year of the Lord. 
 Then, when, in the merciful providence of the Lord, we 
 are removed from our earthly tabernacles, we shall enter 
 into the Paradise of our Great Redeemer, and participate 
 in the joys and rejoicings of an endless Jubilee in the ever- 
 lasting kingdom of the Lord our God. We have nothing 
 of the imposing rituals of the Israelitish Church by means 
 of which to celebrate the Jubilee of the visible and out- 
 ward existence of the Bible-Christian Church ; but we 
 feel it to be a matter of, duty to God, and to our brethren 
 in the religious world, to make acknowledgment of his 
 goodness during the past fifty years in blessing the efforts 
 of his servants, who have faithfully labored, according to 
 their respective capacities, and in their relative spheres of 
 life, in this new* department of their Lord's vineyard, and 
 publicly to solicit a continuation of his goodness and loving 
 kindness through the coming future. F 'or forty-two years 
 we have been endeavoring to build up a Bible-Christian 
 Church in the City of Brotherly Love. The result is 
 known to many of our hearers: we have not rapidly in- 
 creased in numbers, as have done many other denomina- 
 tions around us, but there is a reason sufficiently powerful 
 
256 OUT OF THE CLOUDS: 
 
 to be found in the required discipline of the Church to ac- 
 count for the paucity of our numbers : abstinence from the 
 flesh of animals as food, and a total abstinence from all 
 kinds of intoxicating beverages, not simply on account of 
 health, not merely as a physiological injunction, nor yet 
 as a mere moral requirement, but as a religious duty. 
 
 These principles of discipline are stumbling-blocks in 
 the estimation of many, and prevent numbers from be- 
 coming members of the Bible-Christian Church. We had 
 not been more than two or three weeks resident in this city 
 before we were told, if we would lay aside preaching our 
 discipline, we could have a Church and congregation that 
 would afford us a handsome living. How many have said 
 to us at various times, " I would become a member of your 
 Church but for the discipline in regard to eating and drink- 
 ing" ! Most of our members have told the same tale. It 
 is this peculiarity in our discipline which is the great stum- 
 bling-stone and rock of offense to the many ; this that is 
 the principal barrier to our numerical progress as a re- 
 ligious community. But it will perhaps be said, If this 
 be the doctrine of the Bible, why do not men see it? 
 Why are they not convinced ? When our Lord was on 
 earth preaching glad tidings to the meek, binding up the 
 broken-hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, and 
 announcing the acceptable year of the Lord, did He not 
 complain of the slowness of men's hearts to believe all the 
 truths that the prophets had told ? Need we wonder, then, 
 if " He who spoke as never man spoke," and whose wis- 
 dom silenced the cavils of the self-righteous Pharisees, 
 found it needful to mention the slowness of men to be 
 convinced of the truths He taught? Need we wonder 
 that a like tardiness should still be manifested towards the 
 espousal of the practical doctrines of our common Chris- 
 tianity ? The fact is, men do not want to be convinced of 
 
INTO THE LIGHT. 25T 
 
 any truths that require self -denial. " He that's convinced 
 against his will is of the same opinion still." Notwith- 
 standing these disciplinary obstacles, we have made some 
 progress in numbers. We also own the building in 
 which we are assembled, and the ground on which it 
 stands, in fee-simple, and — what is more than many other 
 churches, that make a more imposing appearance, can 
 say — we are out of debt. Have we not cause, then, to re- 
 joice, and to celebrate the first Jubilee of our existence as 
 a Church with gratitude and praise? Every serious and 
 considerate individual, after reading the Bible account of the 
 Sabbatical and Jubilee years, as enjoined on the Israelites, 
 should reflect and turn his thoughts immediately within 
 himself, — should examine his own heart in the presence 
 of the all-seeing God, and should try to ascertain how far 
 he has mentally experienced any of those blessed effects 
 of which the Sabbatical and Jubilee years of the Israelitish 
 Church were the outward emblems. If he do this in faith- 
 fulness, he will not be long in discovering that nothing 
 can be more beautiful, elevating, and harmonious, nor tend 
 more to the happiness of mankind, than that progressive 
 influence of pure and spiritual religion on the human mind, 
 arising from a life according to its principles. This will 
 not fail to lead to the possession of that inward rest and 
 mental enjoyment shadowed forth by the Jubilee of a 
 former dispensation. 
 
 Do we, then, beloved, wish to attain to the happy en- 
 joyment of these gradual, but certain, renewals of our 
 fallen and sinful natures ? — of those truthful principles 
 and heavenly states of peace, — joy and rejoicing ? Let us 
 lose no time in taking upon us the yoke of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and following Him in the regeneration. Let us 
 ever live according to the principles of our faith, obey the 
 teachings and adhere to the discipline of the Bible-Chris- 
 
 23 
 
258 OUT OF THE CLOUDS. 
 
 tian Church. And then the Spirit of the glorious Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ, the true God and eternal life, 
 will assuredly be unto us a sun and a shield, will work in 
 us to will and to do, according to his own Divine order, 
 until at length we are, by his gracious and compassionate 
 aid, entirely emancipated from the spiritual bondage of 
 sin, and restored to the possession of a title for the attain- 
 ment of a heavenly inheritance in the kingdom, and rejoice 
 in the unending Jubilee of " Our Father in the heavens." 
 Amen. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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